stereo-link USB DACs are designed to work with the basic USB audio drivers that are part of all modern operating systems. The newly released Windows 7 is no exception. We have tested operation using an HP Pavilion Entertainment PC running Windows 7 Premium Home Edition 64 bit. Initial identification, loading of drivers, and activation as the default audio output device all occurred smoothly, just as in previous versions of Windows. There is no need for special drivers.
For reference the driver version we used was 6.1.7600.16385 dated 7/13/2009 (see above screen capture).
The stereo-link also works normally in the XP mode of Windows 7 Professional. It must first be attached to the Virtual machine using the USB menu item on the XP Mode window.
Nevertheless, a few users who purchased new Windows 7 PCs have had difficulty getting their stereo-link to work properly, even though they worked perfectly with their old XP or Vista computers. We are trying to determine the cause, but it appears there is some instability within this initial release of Windows 7. So far the problem seems to be occurring more often with custom built systems.
Here is what one customer has reported. His "solution" has also worked for other users, though it is far from ideal.
Windows 7 recognized the stereo-link the very first boot and every time thereafter but gives me a usb audio driver error and would not work. Roughly 2 days later it just started working while I was using the computer. Since then I have figured out that by enabling / disabling the device I can sometimes get Windows to "use" the driver. It will just sometimes boot and work and other time it boots and has to be messed with to get it to load properly. It defintely appears to be a Windows 7 "bug".
If you are experienceing similar problems, we encourage you to let us know by leavng a comment. Be sure to include details about your computer.
