Installation

Now, I've read of many who state they had difficulty installing this sound card, as well as commenting that the software bundled is horrible.  I strongly beg to differ.  This card was incredibly easy to install in a machine running MCE 2005.  There's nothing to it really.  Just plug in the card and install the drivers.  In fact, it was much easier to install and configure than the XtremeMusic sound card from Creative.  Now, I'm one who never installs drivers from the included CD.  In this case, I went straight to their website to download the very latest drivers and I highly recommend you do the same to avoid any potential install issues. 

Bundled Software

The bundled software, although very basic, works well and is designed to be user-friendly.  Unlike a majority of consumer reviews that quickly had only negative things to say about the software, I find it more than suitable and was quite pleased with how easy it is to setup the card to function just like you want it to.  With that said, let's have a detailed look at what it offers...

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After installing the software, it will place an icon on your sys tray that will allow easy access to all the card's features.  The first screen is the one you'll play with the most.  From here is where you will tell the card what output to use, as well as adjust all your speaker volume accordingly.  Let's have a closer look at this particular screen though so I can show you just how easy it is to configure your card for maximum sound quality.

While you do have the option to set it for analog use, most who purchase this card will definitely want to take advantage of its digital output features.  You have a drop down list with a number of options to choose from depending on your particular setup or equipment.

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The nice thing about the software is how easy it allows you to have complete control of all your speakers.  You can adjust the volume level of each speaker individually and tweak them based on your particular setup and speaker placement.  Now, there are two demo audio tracks and this is where you'll immediately notice what this card is really capable of.  Pump the volume up on your receiver and play the music demo.  I'm sure that at this point, you'll be pleasantly surprised by its sound quality.  It sounds that good folks!  The second track is of a helicopter and is basically designed to test your entire surround sound setup.  They even have a cheesy graphical app of a helicopter circling around.  Not something you'll want to see though, and you can listen to the sound from the main menu above without having to load this horrible demo.

The second tab is basically your equalizer, allowing you to adjust both in and out volume levels.  Moving on, the third tab will reveal its sound effect capabilities.  I found that you don't really want to touch this menu for movie playback.  However, for playing your loaded MP3 collection, it does certainly improve the sound, depending on both the type of music or your surroundings.  If you do play with it though, be sure to set it back to default for movie playback.

I personally avoid Karaoke machines like the plague.  They scare me, and simply just find them silly.  However, if you're a Karaoke fan, you'll be pleased to know the card does support this feature quite well actually.  There are a number of effects that can be enabled such as echo, Magic Voice, Vocal Cancel and Key Control.  CMedia's Magic Voice, for those unfamiliar with the feature, is basically a voice disguise feature that will add to the whole Karaoke experience...for many that is.  The final tab will basically display feature and driver information currently implemented on your system.

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Aside from the main control application, there a couple of extra apps that many will probably not even use.  The first is the C-Media Play 3D Demo application that will allow you to "play" around with some of its features and test your surround system further.  You can select a moving path and environment emulation to further test your speaker setup.

The final is probably not even worth mentioning here, but I do like to cover all bundled software.  For HTPC users though, this won't be something you'll be using.  The Media Rack is simply a file player, similar to winamp or other third-party players on the market. 

Next: Feature Interpretation & Performance