Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

Pros: Much better then onboard sound. Works with Windows 7 OK. It has clear quality sound, makes movies, music, and games come to life when coupled with good speaker setup and or good headset. If you do have decent speakers you will definitely notice the difference immediately. Get the latest drivers for Win 7 from Creative's website before installing.

Cons: These comments are not really cons just a heads up. It is a low end card with few features. You can't adjust bass and treble like on some higher priced cards. It is not an all hardware based card but with today's processors you will not notice this.

Overall Review: After installing you must go to sound properties and set the card at 24 bit, default is 16 bit. Big sound from a small card. Price to value is excellent. I gave it 5 stars because I think this is the best you can get at this price. As for their support, I had to deal with Creative on rebate issues and they were great in my case. Responded quick and helped with my problem. Windows due to all the copyright protections systems has taken many features away from us. Since Vista PC sound has gone downhill. XP still rules for sound. ln my opinion Windows sound is now on par with Linux, maybe even lower in terms of features. Thanks IP lobbyist and lawyers, parasites.

Pros: It's a 64-bit 7.1 card (theoretically)

Cons: Where do I start? Like all other reviews stated, Windows 7 support is a freaking JOKE. Sure you can get the "latest" drivers that are several years old and "support Windows 7" but that's not going to get you far. NONE of Creative's software runs under Windows 7, all stating that it cannot find a supported device - so forget about ANY adjustments WHATSOEVER. Since you can't adjust anything other than what Windows lets you, have fun getting your surround sound to work properly in ANY program. Games don't use the 5.1 properly, movies don't handle 5.1 properly, even Windows doesn't work correctly; swapping the rear left and right channels!

Overall Review: I purchased this for my HTPC and what a freggin mistake that was! Movies have no voice, games set to 5.1 don't render the sound properly, TV in 5.1 is worthless; it's a freaking JOKE. Every time my girlfriend or her 10-year old son wants to watch a DVD, I have to open it in VLC media player and set the sound to 4-channels so there's voice. This is a HUGE PITA for me to do every time they want to use the HTPC!