Labs SB0880 PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Sound Card

It DOES work with Windows 7 (64 bit)! Please read the rest of my post because it may help you. I upgraded my OS from Vista to Windows 7 and needed a Windows 7 compatible sound card. I did some research and chose this card over the Extreme X-Fi. I installed the sound card and booted up my PC, without disabling the onboard audio. After I downloaded the drivers, it worked nicely for about 30 minutes. Afterwards, I was getting popping and crackling noises throughout my music. I disabled the onboard audio, in the BIOS, and then I removed the drivers and downloaded them again. (I did this several times.) Problem did not go away. I removed the drivers, again, and restarted my pc, allowing Windows 7 to apply the Microsoft HD audio device driver. The noise went away, and the music sounded pretty good, but I wanted the full functionality that I paid for. I contacted Creative tech support, and they were very helpful. I used some of their suggestions and added some of my own ideas. Here's how I got the sound card to work properly: 1.) I removed the sound card from my PC. 2.) I went to Device Manager and uninstalled the sound card. 3.) I went to Programs and uninstalled ALL software from Creative. 4.) I went to my PC vendor's website and downloaded the latest BIOS, drivers and firmware. 5.) I ran Norton Utilities 15 to scan and fix any errors on my C drive and registry. (It removed about 1500 temp files from my repeated attempts to reinstall the sound card drivers.) 6.) I installed the sound card into a different PCIe slot on my motherboard. (Even though Creative tech support, expressly, stated that I should not install the sound card in the PCIe slot right next to the video card, I ended up doing that because it was the only other slot available.) 7.) I went to the BIOS and disabled the onboard audio. 8.) I downloaded the drivers for the sound card from Creative's website. DO NOT USE THE CD THAT CAME IN THE BOX. The sound card has been working, beautifully, for two weeks, now. I don't know what combination of the steps that I took to fix the problem did the trick, but it's better to be thorough. I am using some cheap speakers and headphones, but the sound is more nuanced than what I was getting from the Realtek HD onboard audio that I was using with Vista. Be careful because the volume is very loud! When you change modes or settings the volume can reset to something very high and blow out your eardrums! Overall, I highly recommend this product. Now, I just need to buy some better speakers and/or headphones so that I can get the full benefits of this sound card.

I wish more of these reviews for computer peripherals would state what kind of operating system and some other ancillary specs to get a better idea if this is really for me. If you use Vista or XP, it is really important to know what operating system the good or bad review was referring to. I replaced an Audigy 2zs Creative card with this Ttianium card, and the sound generated by this card is so crisp, Titanium is the perfect word to describe it. I am using a 3.2 ghz Gateway Intel with XP for operating and 4gb of RAM. With the Audigy 2zs, the software(not the drivers), was always a little bit tricky to slam in, and the software is essential. This X-fi Titanium(pci-e card), was a dream, it loaded all the software pefectly. The 2zs software was always a bit buggy, but always worked in. No problems at all with the X-Fi. Great extra software too. The best experience with these Creative cards is had with a great pair of headphones. This is the true test. I use Sony's best 7509 model, and the Hphones are literally shaking your head, and no I'm not deaf yet. The software with the Titanium is sweet. You get a stereo receiver graphic that comes up with a big volume knob and bass/treble knobs. The lit up dash provides EAX, graphic EQ, speakers setup, and other tweaks to tailor your sound. Previous Creative software models required you to bring up a separate box for each tweak. This a solid 5*****!! UPDATE----So good, I just bought another one for a w7 computer I just built. The Intel DP55sb Extreme series board has nice optical audio i/o's but is still fairly anemic in the dynamic dept.. I took my headphones from there and went over to my XP/Titanium setup and "my god" what a difference. So the onboard sound is overboard! Flotsam! If you can't get this to work on Win7, go back to Playstation 1. Current driver and software slammed in perfect from the Creative site. Dashboard even has a few different looking graphics and adjustments. Driver disc is worthless for w7 use. Makes the optical array on the Intel Extreme mobo sound like an iPod with earbuds. If you want to hear the entire spectrum of sound and feel it, get this card. I have completely forgotten about its progenitor the Audigy 2zs line of cards. It's like someone talking about the best meal they ever had, until you eat one you won't know.

Love Creative Soundcards!!! Only way to go !!!