Hey lads,
 
I just installed my new shiny x-fi xtreme gamer. I disabled the on board i was using before in the BIOS and removed all the old drivers.
 
Playback works like a charm. Music has more depth etc etc. BUT
 
I cannot for the life of me get my mic to work. I am running sennheiser 165s (NOT the USB ones). I have plugged the 2 jacks into the correct inputs on the card. As i said, playback is perfect. I am running Vista x64 (sorry ) I am hoping this is not the issue.
 
In control panel, I click sounds etc etc and I have the two options of Speakers and SPDIF. Both say X-fi underneath. When clicking on the Recording tab I have several options. These include Microphone, Line-in, "What U Hear", Aux etc. I have tried selecting each of these devices as the default device with no joy Nothing is registering me screaming in to my mic. If anyone has any tips on the correct configuration, I would be most grateful.
 
System
Q6600 G0
Asus P5k-E
4gb DDR2 800
Vista 64
X-FI XtremeGamer OEM
 
Thanks guys

I had this exact same problem as you, I'll try to help you get it work. (I just played around with a bunch of sh*t until it started working. )

Try these steps:
Ok, I know you have to have the "Microphone" option selected here as well as in the X-Fi Volume Control Panel. Don't change any other settings here, just turn the volume on the recording bar up, and select the Microphone option.

Next, open your Volume Control from your task bar. From there click 'Options', scroll down and click 'Properties'. Now click the little 'Recording' radial button. (Make sure Mic and Line in is checked) Hit 'Ok'. Verify that your mic volume here is also turned up and that it has the little "Select" box checked..

Open the Windows Sound Recorder to test. (I basically just left it open and recording and just keep changing options while talking until I saw the recorded register my voice.)