Creative SoundBlaster PCI Express Extreme Audio

List Price: $88.82 Discount Price: $42.77

Features:

• Device Type - Sound Blaster
• Interface Type - PCI-E
• Sound Output Mode - 7.1
• - Recording: 24-bit/96kHz

Customer Reviews:

Not what I had hoped for [Posted on 2008-05-27]
I ordered this sound card for its digital output toslink and claimed compatibility with windows vista. However, this card did not live up to my expectations at all. I had wanted to hook up the sound card to play through my audio receiver and 7.1 speaker setup in the living room. What they fail to tell you, except in the fine print, is that the digital SPDIF outputs only output Dolby 5.1 sound when you are playing DVDs. Otherwise, if you are playing MP3's or other music files, it only outputs in stereo (and poor quality stereo at that). I then tried to go analog and connect the various output jacks to my receiver's inputs. The sound quality was awful.
So I sent the card back.

This is in stark contrast to the old Soundblaster Extigy which I purchased years ago. It was able to output surround sould (including CMSS) through the digital connection to my receiver and sounded great. The problem is that I had to upgrade to Vista and Creative abandoned the Extigy, deeming it "End of Life". I have since been unable to find a sound card which can provide its feature set for Vista.

Needless to say, I did not purchase another Soundblaster. I went with an alternative sound card with Dolby Digital Live output. It is still not as good as the Extigy because it doesn't provide CMSS, but it'll do for now.

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