Rating: 
Summary: The Exitgy is okay
Review: I bought the extigy to take the place of my laptop sound chip. I bought it with a set of promedia 4.1s. So far it works like advertised. The only problem is the very poor quality when using the cmss. It greatly reduces the power and quality it even makes the klipsch speakers sound bad. Updating the drivers helped some but not enough. Only get the extigy if you have to (broken laptop sound chip.)
Rating: 
Summary: great computer audio add-on and stand-alone DAC
Review: I bought this card because my laptop has no S/PDIF out, I have been expecting a lot
but once I connect it to my home-theater system digitally, I was extemely disappointed (like fall down from heaven), there was NO 5.1 pass-through
I asked the support, but no luck
but about 3 months later, I got an email from support, that firmware update is ready, once I finished update, I am happy it has dd AND DTS support (on my home-theater system), but I have to disconnect all other USB devices to avoid "bottleneck", actually, pass-through is smooth, no drop-out for dd5.1
after firmware update, I am happy with this unit, then I can make ALL portables (with DVD player) supports 5.1 outbesides of that, it can work as a stand-alone D/A convertor, I connect it to home MD deck, wow!!! sounds is really astounishing, it reveals the truth of minidisc, when I connect it to laptop USB port, and play some ogg format (160k), sound is really great like professional CD player, then I connect it to CD walkman digital out, yes! even portable can make professional sound too the greatest computer audio add-on for home for desktop or laptop, or even CD walkman with digital out, or just a great DAC
Rating: 
Summary: AMAZING
Review: I bought this product in hope of making my PC have amazing sound. I found this product on the creative labs website for a 100 bucks off. i decided i would try it. I bought it with some of their 5.1 speakers. Now i love the sound on my pc and use it as my stereo. the only one problem i found was that the thing has to be on before you turn on the pc. anywayz, this product is amazing. i love it.
Rating:
Summary: great hardware and concept....the people need help
Review: i got a Creative internal card for my niece in college this winter, she loves it! i have another home desktop system which also has a Creative internal card and it is one of the best sound-audio devices I own. so, later, i bought my Sound Blaster Extigy Sound Card USB/external with another brandname 5.1 speaker system for my portable pc. Unlke some others here, my gear has the quality control thing debugged. it works fine with Windows XP and i have not had problems so far. but... their Customer support is totally in need of improvement. When i checked with them about my nieces internal system ( it plays radio stations when no other signal is present) it took 8 days to get a generic and non helpful answer.
niece finally started to disconnect her speakers when she does not want her MP3stuff. i call that a workaround. this company has a great system, could use a QC improvement, and their reps are either overworked, or not paid for customer satisfaction. since they have fine and very inventive products, this means that the focus at Creative Labs is on the idea side, not the customer Q&A side.
Rating:
Summary: This is a 6 start product
Review: I have an old notebook (400 celeron) that I wanted to transform into a media center. This card and its software is and "Oh my god !!" experience. The installation went without a glitch on windows XP. The sound is purely incredible. The remote control is good. I recommend that you try the Z-band radios. This product is truly the best product I ever bought for a PC, well worth the investment. I can't wait to try the digital connection to my home theater system. JJ-
Rating:
Summary: One word to describe this product, excellence.
Review: I have been using the Extigy for about 3 months with Creative's Inspire 5.1 speaker system. From the time I extracted the product from the box in which it was held, to installation, there have been no problems. Installation was a breeze, and the bundle software was great. Depending on the location of your computer, the remote can be very handy. There also has many sound settings as well. One can change the way he or she hears a current song by changing the environment. Some environments included are bathroom, garage, cathedral, theater and many more. There is one draw back though; your computer can take a heavy hit if your system is a bit old. Me for example, I am using the Extigy with a Hewlett Packard P3 500-mega hertz 300DIMMram Windows ME computer. If you run the software included, it may take a few secs to load. Id says it's like waiting for Adobe photo shop to fully load on a basic system. Other than that, the Extigy is fantastic!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!! Creative, sell me another one!
Review: I have had the Creative Extigy for over a year, and I must say I'm extremely pleased with it. I use Creative's 4.1 speakers with it, and they work flawlessly and the sound is great. I can't think of many drawbacks for this device. It has practically every connection an audiophile could hope for. The only problem is the software... in that I mean that it is not updated for at least 6 months after the device is released. All in all, this is a smart investment and a supberb choice, especially if you use a laptop and want better sound. By the way, I run it on a Toshiba laptop with Windows XP Pro SP2.
Rating:
Summary: Very happy with it but software could be better
Review: I have owned the extigy for well over a year now and I must say I am very happy with it. I use it on a COMPAQ PRESARIO windows xp desktop along with Creative Inspire 5.1 speakers. I have used the Creative Recorder Utility to record scores of albums from my casette tapes and even from free streaming Mp3s available in the web. The Creative play center is not intuitive at all to use. It is a pain to keep the media library updated as my MP3 collection grew or shrunk.(specially since most of us store our mp3 collections in distinct sub-folders which the play center does not automatically recognize) Windows Media Player was easier to use. But Creative Play Center had two uses for me: 1. It saved me the trouble of buying an mp3 codec to Windows media player. I could convert wav files into mp3.
2. It allowed me to access the mp3 media library using the included Remote control. Speaking of remote control, it is a handy thing but the remote control interface in the computer needs much to be desired. I use a Belkins USB 1.1 Hub in my setup and have not thus far encountered any bandwidth limitation that we hear about in the other reviews. Also bundled is a basic wave editor and a minidisc center. Havent used either to comment on their performance. Wish they could improve the creative play center and the remote control interface. These are small glitches in an otherwise impressive product.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent.
Review: I just received this, plugged it in and have been well pleased with it's quality. I run a Windows XP machine and installation couldn't have been easier. The device was up and running within a few minutes of hookup and delivers great sound out of my speakers. I enjoy my MP3's, CD's, and DVD's much more on my computer thanks to this card.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Idea (Still needs work though)
Review: I just returned the one I got for Christmas. After installing on Windows XP, my laptop would hang if the Extigy was turned on. Rather than deal with their "support" I just returned it. Also: In order to connect this unit to a receiver make sure that your receiver has a 6 channel input source. Mine did not. :(
| 
