Installation of the Steel Sound 5H-USB was as simple as installing any other USB plug 'n play device. The drivers came on a mini CD, which is a nice bit of space-saving. The final installation screen needs a bit of grammar work... heh.

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What you're left with after the installation is finished is a system tray icon. Opening the control panel, you're presented with Steelpad's sound control utility. The interface is well done & easily navigable. The main screen includes output, DSP, & speaker settings. The 5H's are rated to do 7.1 simulated surround, but you can listen to music only in stereo if you so desire.

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If you select the 7.1 setting, you are then at the speaker configuration page, where you can actually move the "speakers" around the circle to change their "position," as well as raise or lower each individual "speaker's" volume level. Very nice little app that's simple to use; just drag your mouse around. The next tab in line is the Mixer, where your standard volume for wav, midi, microphone, & CD player are located.

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The final two tabs in the utility are "Effect," & "Karaoke." Effect is where you'll find the environment size & type settings as well as the equalizer, which comes with a hefty twelve presets. Not bad for a tiny chip of a sound card running off a USB port. Karaoke, is pretty self-explanatory. I can't even say that I recall anyone ever using their PC for karaoke, but if you get the urge to belt out some Sinatra, you're all set.

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