Just a quick tip for Windows 7. I was very disappointed with the audio quality after installing Windows 7. I have a 5.1 speaker setup with the rear speakers disconnected and the sub was not being used. I checked all the connections just in case and no luck. The volume levels were very low and just sounded flat.

It seems that the Windows 7 driver defaults to stereo output only, and sounds terrible on 5.1 speakers. So goto the “Manage Audio Devices” control panel and right click on “Speakers” and set them up. This control panel allows you to define your speaker configuration, and disable any speakers you are not using. The sound is now great again.

As a follow up tip, right clicking on the Volume control in the system tray allows you to open up the mixer. The new mixer allows you to set separate volume levels for different apps. Very handy.