AUZEN Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

Pros: There's no doubt that Creative makes some pretty good hardware. Where they often fail is their support, service, and driver updates. With the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude you get the best audio hardware on the market without having to deal with Creative's miserable service or drivers. Add to that, feature-for-feature, the X-Fi Prelude crushes the competing Creative XtremeGamer Fatal1ty. Here you get separate outputs for each speaker as well as Optical and Digital Coaxial outputs, making it very simple to connect this card to any home theater system or high-end desktop audio setup. The sound was unbelievably clear with excellent highs, mids, and lows on both my 7.1 Sony HT and 5.1 Klipsh Premedia desktop setups. The positional audio is simply incredible, with plenty of tools for tweaking depending on your setup. Also, everything works painlessly on my copy of Vista Ultimate 64.

Cons: For some reason, the first time I ran the install (downloaded from the Auzentech website instead of from the included CD) the software claimed that no compatibly device was installed. In the end, I had to uninstall all the software, manually install the device driver from Device Manager, THEN reinstall the software. I have a feeling this had something to do with my using the 64bit version of Vista, but it really didn't require too much troubleshooting.

Overall Review: If you want the best soundcard you can get without directly lining Creative's pockets, this is THE soundcard to get. I really can't convey any better how pleased I am with the quality of the audio and number of features. Finally, since Auzentech writes their own drivers, you get updates a lot more frequently than you do with Creative's own cards. Add to that, Dolby digital support in Vista and there's just no reason you SHOULDN'T own this card. Don't let the price deter you, you really do get what you pay for.

Pros: This card coupled with good digital speakers(logitech z-5500 using windows xp), sounds very good. My Audigy zs platinum sounded good as well, but this is better. Loaded the software and plugged in the INCLUDED optical cable and that was it. I was nervous about whether or not I could use digital or not with xp, but everything worked great. The vista drivers work now (with alchemy), but not the dts or dd. The best thing about this card is I was able to take out the creative front I/O panel out of my computer and plug in the front audio/mic jacks of my case right into the card. It totally freed up a bay. I will be using it with vista after sp1 comes out. In Bf2, it was nice to choose ultra high in the sound settings and hear the extra's that I never heard before. Overall, I'm more than pleased. Music sounds phenominal. Highs, lows and mids sound great and it definitely brings out the best in my speakers.

Cons: The price was a big con for me. After I ordered it, I second guessed my decision, but now that I have it, it's gotta last me awhile so I had to make sure it would last beyond xp and vista.(It's already proven itself in games such as HL2,BF2,COD4,Crysis). But I still think it could be a little cheaper.

Overall Review: I got this card even though theres no dts and dd for vista yet, but that's okay, since it sounds great on xp and vista is still waiting on service pack 1 for fixes anyway. When Auzentech gets the drivers done in early 08, then I will make the switch to vista. There is no quick answer to the sound dilema that vista has caused for creative or others, and no real reason to rush to vista. I would rather have working, stable drivers with a reputable promise for future completion, then to have another very popular brand rush thrown together bugged drivers out and call it an answer. The proof is in the pudding.

Pros: This is a very good alternative to Creative soundcards. I don’t own the Creative X-Fi card so I can’t compare them side by side but from looking at the specifications this card seems to be the better choice. I purchased this card because I upgraded from 2 tiny speakers to a 5.1 speaker setup. With the integrated sound everything was flat and the sound had no depth but now it sounds great. When listening to music it sounds awesome and when playing games you hear more sounds around you.

Cons: You can’t download updated drivers from the website! When you go to the download section you get the message “Due to security concerns we have temporarily disabled downloads of the X-Fi Prelude driver”. What Auzentec means by “security concerns” is someone figured a way to modify the Auzentech X-Fi driver to use it on Creative soundcards. This upset the folks at Auzentech enough to take the driver download off their website. If you want a driver you have to go to the Auzentech website and fill out a form with your serial number to start a support ticket so they can e mail you the driver. To me this is a bit much just to get an updated driver! Although this irritates me I still would buy it again.

Overall Review: This card isn’t cheap but you get what you pay for. You might save a few bucks buying a SoundBlaster X-Fi but then you will have to deal with Creative’s “wonderful” software and customer support. Even with the con above I give it five stars!

Pros: Great Sound, Works with Vista 64Bit and 4Gigs of RAM...East installation, no creative Bloatware....Also got mine before the price increase..

Cons: Non...

Overall Review: Installed with no difficulty, Sound is far superior to my old Xfi Extreme Music,Deep richer Bass and Gameplay sounds are amazing.. No crackling or popping with Vista 64Bit and 4Gigs of RAM that always seemed to plague the Creative cards...They will soon release newer drivers which will enable the card fully..Great buy...Highly recommended....

Pros: This thing'll do anything I need it to do...I am somewhat of an audiophile, I have good ears, and this card can go places my current speaker set-up won't go. The Vista driver is flawless, so far, none of the problems I had with the variety of Creative products I've gone through. I hope I'm satisfied with the Z-5500s, 'cuz I think that's where I'm going.

Cons: None so far.

Overall Review: I've cycled four different sets of speakers past this thing so far (three different 2.1s, and a 5.1 set-up ATM) and the sound just keeps astounding me; what it can make lesser hardware do is hard to believe. The card is stupid-great...Creative ought to be ashamed, it's products pale in comparison.

Pros: Amazing sound card. Opamps are high quality as with most auzentech cards. X-fi chip which supports EAX 5.0. Non-bloated drivers compared to creative. DDL and DTS support. Replaceable opamps (not really needed for most users). "Best of both worlds."

Cons: Drivers are still being worked on but for me they are stable (on both xp prof x64 [main OS] and vista ultimate 64-bit)

Overall Review: For those haters: 1) Serial number is ON THE BOX 2) Auzentech explains why they make you register to get the driver (read it!). Anyways, they give you an extended warranty and you do NOT have to put in your address, etc (check the * for required fields) 3) I would expect more users to be using xp. Vista destroys directsound hardware acceleration - some games support openal and and are ported for x-fi chips though alchemy for hardware acceleration though not all 4) Auzentech is probably the best x-fi equipped sound card. Check the pros. 5) Try uninstalling onboard / other sound card audio drivers. I've read that this card generally does not work well with other audio drivers. The ASUS xonar d2x was the other card I was deciding between but the x-fi chip mainly sealed the deal. The xonar is definitely another great card.

Pros: Optical out!! Finally I can hook up the Z-5500's the right way, with less wires. Very easy install, no Creative crapware to deal with. Auzentech appears to have a straightforward driver package, finally.

Cons: None yet. A little pricey with no rebate, but no big deal

Overall Review: Traded out a Xtremegamer for this. There is actually an audible difference. Just being able to use the optical out has dropped that annoying hum I was getting ever since hooking up the coax cables. Havent noticed any difference in gaming to either give the xram a thimb up or down.

Pros: FINALLY a creative chipset soundcard that can translate game surround to digital out!! Newest driver from Auzentech website has Dolby Digital Live enabled. Works better than I expected, FEAR and COD4 are incredible through my theater system, full digital stream, surround works perfectly.

Cons: Cost.

Overall Review: Creative should have enabled this in it's hardware LONG ago. Auzentech: You rock! Creative mode switcher that I'm used to is great for the HTPC so I can have separate gaming/ theater settings. For the fist time, my HTPC is more fun to game on than my gaming machine!