adapters

I recently connected my PC to my TV. (They are in 2 different rooms). The video runs via (5m) DVI cable and I was looking for a good way to connect the audio to the receiver-driven home theater 5.1 speakers. Silly me for thinking that a digital coaxial out from this card could simply plug into coax in on receiver and Dolby coding etc. would be recognized. (SEE other review regarding this below). So, after purchasing a 25' coax cable and miniplug connector, I was extremely disappointed NOT to have true 5.1 digital sound from my speakers.

Basically, I will have to run a bunch of (looong) analog connecting RCA cables to my receiver, instead of 1 digital coax - what a pain! Not to mention the headphone BS also mentioned.

Seems like they overlooked some very basic things with this card and focused on the the processing...

I got this card a long time ago and could tell a major increase in my audio quality when I had my 5.1 high end speakers plugged in, but ultimitely you need nice speakers to experience the full potential of this card. It has no 5.25 inch bay adaptor like the Platinum does, and although it is old, it is the best for when you have a tight budget.

The following is an email sent to Creative Tech Support over three weeks ago. They have not replied so I am writing reviews as I told them I would. (Problem 3 below was somehow resolved after unchecking Synchronize with Control Panel in Speaker Settings and then rechecking it several days later.) My system is a Dell Dimension 8300, P4 2.6 GHz, 512 MB ram, nVidia GeForce FX 5200 video, 5.1 speakers, Windows XP.

I have over 20 years experience with PCs and I have been a studious learner during that time. I have installed many peripherals and add-ons in my own and machines belonging to others. But I have never had as many problems installing any of them as with this sound card, even in the days before plug and play!

I have installed the programs and drivers along with updates from your web site three times now because of various problems. The last installation changed my nVidia display card settings which caused a greenish monochrome color in DVD movies, but I reset them back. After much work I now have the most trouble free installation so far. The following problems remain however.

1. Opening THX Console resets the speaker level settings under the advanced tab of Surround Mixer and opening other settings programs causes those in THX Console to change. Prior installations also caused settings in EAX Console to change. Apparently one can use either THX Console and not the others, or the others can be used but not THX Console. Seems to me your documentation needs a better explanation of the interactions between these three programs and Speaker Settings and how to use them together.

2. When using SPDIF output from my DVD player application, some sounds aren't played during initial screens, menus and credits and there are occasional skips and faltering as some movies start playing. But playback of the same DVD is perfect when I set the application to decode sound rather than send it to the card to decode.

3. Volume of CD and DVD playback is controlled by the Wave slider in Surround Mixer instead of the CD Audio slider when digital output is enabled for the DVD player in Device Manager (the digital cable isn't connected between the card and the player). So my DVD player resets the wave playback volume high when it is started, and I then get blasted when a true wave file is played, if Synchronize with Control Panel is checked in Speaker Settings and I forget to lower wave volume after a DVD. Your documentation may also need more explanation of this to prevent confusion and endless experimenting.

Any help you can give will be appreciated. I am about ready to pull the card, revert back to the onboard sound, and start writing some bad reviews on web sites, which I have done only once before.

I frankly don't see how an average user could be satisfied with this card unless they are oblivious to its problems.

P.S. The card is installed in a Dell Dimension 8300 with plenty of resources, and I could find no info on your site that recommends a bios update as for some earlier Dell units. I have tried installing the card in two different slots in the computer. The card shares an IRQ with a USB Universal Host Controller. No other resources are shared.