I hate to be one of those guys that doesn't have a solution, just the same problem, but I'm right there with you. I have a Sound Blaster Live!
Platinum (with Live! It's not the 5.1 model, but most people I've encountered have the same problem with the 5.1 version. I've done a great deal of investigation, mostly into Vista forums (I didn't think the drivers from Vista to 7 would change that much, but apparently they did. Majestron Quartz Pocket Watch Manual. ), and I found a whole lot of people with similar problems while using Vista.
Here is the data I've collected. I'm running Windows 7 Beta Build 7000 on an AMD K7 Athlon XP 2400+ processor. I get horribly distorted sound (i.e. Too much bass, as first poster described) in when I use the drivers that Windows Update provides me for my card (I think it is a generic EMU10K1-based card driver). I get decent quality sound, but crackly and some pops, when I use a hacked driver by NGO that is supposed to be 'fix' for Vista.
Another fix I have encountered is to use the latest Vista drivers for the Creative X-Fi card series, except to select the WDM EMU10K1 driver manually (running the setup gives a blue screen). This has the same effect as Scenario 1. Above, except for one thing. If you go into the properties, and select 5.1 in speaker configuration, it will sound better.
I thought this had fixed it (as people suggested it has in Vista), but it turns out I started getting the crackling and popping again as in Scenario 2. I did a lot of other things in between, including messing with DMA mode on my drives in my BIOS, updating my motherboard chipset drivers, etc., but nothing gave me any change from the two effects I noticed above. Anyone have similar/different experiences? Yes i am using the one with the live drive also, i picked it up in a second hand pc so not 100% sure of exact model.
SoundBlaster Live! (EMU10K1) terrible sound?! Hi, i know this is an old card but i just built up another pc from old bits to play some games on and have a serious sound issue with it and windows 7. The driver i have installed came from windows update called 'Creative driver update for Creative EMU10K1 Audio Processor (WDM)'. The problem is the. Windows device driver information for Creative EMU10K1 Audio Processor. Creative SB Live! Series (WDM) Creative. Creative ct4760 driver; Creative sound blaster. View and Download Creative EMU10K1 - Sound Blaster Live! Value user manual online. EMU10K1 - Sound Blaster Live! Value Sound Card pdf manual download. MEDIA - Creative Technology, Ltd. Bypass Cpanel License Reseller there. - Creative EMU10K1 Audio Processor (WDM) Computer Driver Updates. Computer driver update - DriverMax. Device types / MEDIA / Creative Technology, Ltd. / Creative EMU10K1 Audio Processor (WDM). Driver Description, link Creative SB Live! Series (WDM). Driver Manufacturer.
I think sounblaster live! Value + live drive 2. Ok am gonna try these daniel k drivers. EDIT: just tried and it will not run i get a file error even when using vista compatibility mode to run the installer. I am now downloading and hoping this will work. (that didn't work either, went to install but said my device was not supported) Now downloading P17XFXA_PCDRV_1_04_0080.exe and starting to think about going into town and buying a new card lol! EDIT2: NON of the above worked.
I am using a SB live! Value with the live! The mobo sound is probably quantum leaps better than this old SB live!, but I like the live!
The beta driver clearly has issues. I started using the KX project drivers. I am using kxdrv3541. I installed it and the sound is fine. Expect an error message each time you log on. It will say that the driver hasn't initialized. But it's working fine.
Just click on the button to close the dialog. But you may have to go to the sound applet in control panel to get sound. On the playback tab, you have to have Wave Out 6/7 selected as the default device (not the default communication device) to get the back jacks working. If Master Mixer is the default device, the headphone jack on the live! (that took some time playing with it to learn). Hopefully M$ and creative get to fixing their driver eventually. I am using a SB live!