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There are two little plastic optical adapters that come with the card as well as the card itself, a driver CD an optical audio cable and a quick start guide. The drivers really should be downloaded from the site though as this card really has some improvements from the original set mainly the Dolby Digital Live.
A lot of the functions of the Prelude come from the software drivers and some are still to come such as DTS Neo PC and Linux drivers will be out sometime in the future. “DTS NEO:PC™ is an up-mix component of DTS Connect® that allows multi-channel output from two-channel sources. It can be combined with DTS Interactive™ to send the signal to your audio visual receiver.” from Auzentech. The Linux drivers will allow Linux based systems to take partial advantage of this soundcard and is an ongoing project like many at Auzentech.
I think that is one of the main things that really impressed me with Auzentech in particular, they are continually working on bigger and better things for products they have already released. The Dolby drivers and a few other things have been release after the card hit the market so the hardware was ready but the software was still in the works.
They continue to not only improve and fix problems but to upgrade the cards features so you can be sure they will not be selling these and forgetting about their customers after the sale. I have had a few problems with installation and running various consoles on the card but had great help from support and I don’t think they knew I was a reviewer.
I tried to install the card on one computer but continued to have problems and figured it was with the motherboard, an Asus M2R32-MVP. I finally removed the card, installed it on another computer without any problems and installed it on another motherboard as well after replacing the Asus with an ECS motherboard. I have been having problems with the same motherboard with video cards so it is no wonder I would have problems with a sound card as well.
I think the particular motherboard is just having problems and needs to have a firmware update but I was having so many problems that I just replaced the motherboard with another. The good news is I installed the Auzentech XF-i Prelude 7.1 on a Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 without any problems as well as an ECS KA3-MVP.
Both computer setups ran fine with both the soundcard playing games, music and movies as well as playing games and movies through the soundcard from the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. I ran some frame rate tests and checked to see if the Prelude would slow down my gaming and saw a few frames less in some games like Call of Duty 4 and Unreal Tournament 3 but only two or three frames per second less.
In games like World in Conflict and Microsoft Flight Sim X I saw no frame rate loss so the card does not slow gaming down in any real way that would make a game unplayable. Playing games from a console system through the computer with the Prelude was just as good as the computer games and the Dolby Digital is a real treat.
In some games it really helps a lot to be able to correctly tell where the action is and where people are. I really enjoy Battlefield: Bad Company and when sniping wearing the ghillie suit and hiding out it is real important to tell when someone is near. The Prelude with its really good surround sound is great for not only all those sound effects and great weapons sounds but just being able to hear the sounds of an enemy or friends approaching helps your gaming a great deal.
I have had a few issues installing the software drivers but that just turned out to be not getting rid of all of the old drivers before installing the newest ones. While reviewing the card a new set of drivers came out so I did get the chance to update them from the originals on the CD as well as the ones I downloaded.
If you do purchase this, just like all video and sound card drivers, I would highly recommend completely removing and cleaning out your system before trying to install new drivers using appropriate driver cleaners and registry cleaners. I use Driver Cleaner Pro and a few registry cleaners to make sure I get rid of all of them but you can use what you like.
One small issue I do have with the card is the markings on the back plate; they could be painted in or highlighted to make them stand out. The plate that is attached to the card has the appropriate words stamped into them below each connection but then they anodized the plate so they hardly show up when you have the card installed.
It would have been nice to paint the markings after the anodizing so you can clearly see the connections, especially when the card is installed. This is really the only lasting thing about the card that was a problem; the installation went fine for me once I completely uninstalled the previous set of drivers. The problems with my one motherboard I am sure is due to the motherboard and not the soundcard as I have seen others with this motherboard and using the X-Fi Prelude 7.1 without many problems.
The Auzentech XF-i Prelude 7.1 Soundcard is a great buy and pretty easy to use and install, it sounds so much better than onboard sound and offers so many features and connectivity choices. I highly recommend the Auzentech XF-i Prelude 7.1 Soundcard for a great XF-i chip soundcard for the best sound from your PC.