Only 1 thing which is bad about this new PC.... Whatever combo of inputs I try I cannot get this 5.1 sound card to talk properly to my sound system. Its so quiet firstly, that I can turn the volume up to highest setting on the amp, and I can hear hissing, but the music coming out at that volume is "bearable" - before I had just the fronts and sub plugged into a boddy standard sound card and I got wonderful bass and clarity from the fronts... Now I have a creative sound card designed for a creative sound system (I have the manual) but its not talking to my "mercury" amp.

I have another 5.1 sound card in my possession so was wondering if it was a shot at swapping over? Maybe uninstall the creative software and start afresh? Any ideas and tips are welcome as when I start f***ing around with PC hardware its normally a downhill spiral to it needing, as so eloquently put a by a Briskodian, "hold out PC, swing back foot, drop PC, bring foot forward"

Are you feeding the speaker outputs into an amplifier that's expecting something else?

If there's an optical connection you want to be using that...

Yes , uninstall the old card in device manager.

Power down system , insert new card (try a different PCI slot) and power up.

Install drivers if required.

Just one more thing , you *do* have the cable plugged into the right socket on the sound card don't you?

And if you're not using optical, how exactly are you feeding the 5.1 source to your amp?