It works. Sometimes. For a while.

I got this to replace a SoundBlaster X-Fi (which I only stopped using because Creative Labs arbitrarily decided to stop supporting with drivers, otherwise it worked perfectly). My primary requirement was 5.1 encoding via optical out, as that's what my speaker system uses (and what my X-Fi did without issue). After taking about 15 minutes to even find the 5.1 encoding options (they're hidden in the very poorly labelled "cinematic" section of the control panel), I was able to set both Dolby Digital Live and DTS and both work, at least initially. But over time I began to hear little pops and hiccups in the sound until the encoding would just fail and the sound would go silent, requiring me to go back to the control panel, turn the encoding off, and then back on again. This is now the standard pattern: set the encoding, it'll work for a while (usually an hour or two, sometimes less), then the audio will start to glitch a bit, until the fails, and the process has to be repeated. On top of all this, immediately after installing the card and updating the drivers from the Creative Labs web site (because the auto updater failed), every time I open the control panel or even switch audio devices (e.g. when using Bluetooth headphones) at least half a dozen "bad image" errors pop up complaining about a particular DLL. This doesn't seem to have any effect on any functionality but requires clicking to dismiss these alerts over and over again (and they are always on top so they cannot be ignored). I've tried reinstalling the drivers, disabling other devices, running driver cleaners, nothing has helped. All in all this card has been a pain to deal with and the only reason I don't give it a one star rating is because it does at least work... at least for a little while.

###

