Creative SoundBlaster PCI Express Extreme Audio
Creative's Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio gives an experience beyond studio quality with MP3 music and movies! Featuring award-winning X-Fi technologies, X-Fi Crystalizer restores the details and vibrance lost during MP3 and DIVX compression, breathing life back into any audio, while X-Fi CMSS-3D expands stereo music and movies into amazing surround sound. Effective over virtually any speakers, including stereo speakers, Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio even provides unbelievable surround sound over normal headphones! The low profile design plus digital out for connecting to a home cinema system make it ideal for Media Center PCs. 3.5mm Headphone Out/Line Out (front L/R) Line Out 2 (rear L/R, side L), Line Out 3 (center/sub/side R) 3.5mm Flexijack - Line In / Microphone In / Digital I/O Internal line level Input (via 4-pin Molex connector) Intel HD Audio Compatible Front Panel Header (2x5pin) 2 Year Warranty System Requirements - Windows XP, Pentium 4 1.6 GHz, AMD Athlon XP 2000+, 256 MB RAM, 600 MB Hard Drive, PCI 2.1, CD-ROM Drive
Creative SoundBlaster PCI Express Extreme Audio Accessories
 Belkin AV20000-06 PureAV Digital Optical Cable (6-Feet)
ACOUSTIC RESEARCH AP-16100W 100' White 16 Gauge Oxygen-Free Speaker Wire
XFX PVT84JUDD3 GeForce 8600GT XXX 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Ready Video Card (Dual DVI/S-Video)
Logitech diNovo Edge (967685-0403)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor, 2.40 GHz, 8M L2 Cache, LGA 775
Kingston ValueRam 2GB 667MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 DIMM (Kit of 2)
Eforcity Black 6 FT / 2 Meter DVI-D M/M Digital /Digital Dual Link Cable for Flat Panel Displays, Digital CRT Displays, HDTV and Video Projectors, including DFP and LCD types
Hauppauge 1178 WinTV-HVR-1600 Internal Hybrid TV Tuner/Video Recorder
Lite-On SATA 20x Super All Write LightScribe Internal DVD/Dual Layer RW Drive (LH20A1L06)
Logitech G51 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers
Creative SoundBlaster PCI Express Extreme Audio Reviews
I ordered this sound card for its digital output toslink and claimed compatibility with windows vista. I then tried to go analog and connect the various output jacks to my receiver's inputs. So I sent the card back. Otherwise, if you are playing MP3's or other music files, it only outputs in stereo (and poor quality stereo at that). Needless to say, I did not purchase another Soundblaster. 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. This is in stark contrast to the old Soundblaster Extigy which I purchased years ago.
I went with an alternative sound card with Dolby Digital Live output. The problem is that I had to upgrade to Vista and Creative abandoned the Extigy, deeming it "End of Life". The sound quality was awful. I have since been unable to find a sound card which can provide its feature set for Vista.
It is still not as good as the Extigy because it doesn't provide CMSS, but it'll do for now. It was able to output surround sould (including CMSS) through the digital connection to my receiver and sounded great. I had wanted to hook up the sound card to play through my audio receiver and 7.1 speaker setup in the living room. However, this card did not live up to my expectations at all.
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