Strong headphone output. Extremely low noise output on all channels. Works fine with Windows 10. No issues on an AMD X570 platform. Easily surpasses audio quality of built-in Realtek chipsets by a wide margin.

Software is old, and filled with useless features (extra bass, cheesy reverb, surround, gimmicky microphone pitch shifters and echo effects etc.) but it works fine and doesn't crash. Included "beamforming" microphone sounds quite poor compared against any half decent microphone. The ridiculously bright LEDs are absurd, with no way to shut them off. Red shield with the plexiglass window is entirely decorative (money wasted).

Some money was wasted on the stupidly bright LEDs (no way to shut them off), the decorative shielding, and the "better than nothing" beamforming microphone. Take all that away, and at least this is a decent sounding audio card that, while it can't compete with good external DACs in the same price-range, does provide a very easy to install and use sound card. Headphone output is surprisingly good. It obviously sounds much better than the ubiquitous Realtek on-board solutions included on almost all motherboards (don't fall for their lofty marketing). This card is an easy recommendation for gamers and casual music listeners looking for an easy step-up from motherboard audio. It's not an audiophile's dream come true, but it does its job well.

-Amazing Sound -Amplified Headphone Jack -Nice Software Features

-Channels Swap all the time on newer AMD X570 MOBO with PCIe 4.0. You need to force your MOBO into PCIe 3.0 for both your Videocard and Expansion slots for it to work. BIOS issue, AMD and Creative are aware. Hopefully patched soon.

Had this card for several years, hasn't let me down. Cannot stand playing games and music with just onboard sound.

Works with both Windows & Linux. Reasonable price.

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For a straight up sound card with some decent fidelity, this card represents good value. Mine worked fine with both Windows 10 and Linux Mint, as does my Creative SBX AE-5 card. There will be Linus drivers available for the AE-7 likely in early 2021 with the general release of the Linux 5.10 kernel (see the Phoronix web site). Creative Labs recently, appears to be taking a much closer look at providing proprietary drivers for their products to function with Linux. Ensure that your machine is patched and up to date for both Win 10 or for whatever Linux distro you prefer, prior to installing these cards and you should encounter no problems with later generation hardware. And do your homework prior to installation.

- Fancy software suite with a bunch of features you can fiddle with

- Currently no support on Linux systems without really janky, complicated, and unstable workarounds. - The red LED cannot be turned off. The color cannot be changed.

To be honest I don't notice much difference in sound quality using this card as opposed to the onboard audio on my mid-range gaming motherboard (Gigabyte Aorus Z390 Elite), although it does amplify the volume noticeably. If you have a basic board this is probably a significant upgrade. Even though this product has a shield, if you're serious about studio sound quality your best bet is to get an external device because EM interference won't be as much of a factor. Linux users, note that this product is not supported by Arch or Ubuntu (and probably others). You won't get any sound if you try to use it with Linux.

- Best sound card if you want to use a tuner for you sound via the optical out. - The mini Mic included works Very well! - The sound quality to all sources is Excellent! Very Happy with the sound for watching videos, movies, music! I loved it so much, I installed one in my other desktops.

None that I notice

Be sure that if you use the interface to switch between “speakers” and “headphones” and “IF” using the optical out to a tuner, you need to be sure to also uncheck the optical option before switching to headphones.

Optical output

Other sound cards are weaker.

I like my Hi-Fi, so an optical output was required, as way some processing. This is amazing, and you can hear people sneaking up behind you.

5.1 Analog to Z-5500 Logitech, and headphone's ATH-M50x, sound amazing.

Optical digital works, then eventually "fails", regardless brand of optical / toslink cables for the digital out. Sound Blaster Pro Studio (cd installer, and downloaded update separately). Both freeze on windows 10 pro boot up. However after killing it via task manager, and manually reloading. It works fine after that... Minor hassle, but works perfectly afterwards.

Would have liked to see a slight power in, even the floppy connector, just to balance out the power requirements of this card. Quality wise, it's amazing. For those trying to get optical to work....... Under CINEMATIC, select Dolby or DTS. 5.1 will "kick in" when a 5.1 producer app works. (foobar, with 5.1 addon feature). Or 5.1 blu ray, rare 5.1 Youtube, etc. However, you still have to select ANALOG Speakers 5.1... to get the digital optical audio to work. Yes it's strange... It works.ish

Easy hardware install Great sound quality Extreme customization in the software

Software install tricky, need to remove all previous sound software before install or wouldn't give me full customization Red LEDs cannot be turned off, very bright

Great upgrade from a basic motherboards sound if you're looking to get a better 5.1 audio experience, once the software was installed it gave great customization and a much clearer sound whether using my surround system or headphones.

Sounds Great easy software install

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Replaced my X-FI Fatality Titanium that died, went back to onboard sound on my Sabertooth 990FX Board, for a few months was wondering if the sound card was really needed. Glad I did, What a difference to onboard. I forgot how much better a sound card is. The highs are crisper, the bass deeper. Glad I bought it. And would recommend...

Optical input and output. easy install (Had no detection issues with windows 7 or 8 or 10 ) Solid software, more then enough features 24-bit / 192kHz audio output! Mic and EMI shield are a great bonus.

Price Hate the LEDs, there is not way to turn them off in the software. in the end I desoldered them

Bought this because I needed to have optical input and output for my Xbox One and sound system. This card works perfectly. I have had 0 downtime in the last year and a half, over 3 operating systems. Software was very good, really surprised me how much it offered. I would strongly recommend this card for anyone would needs a PCI-e sound card.