Running a 7.1 Tiamat v2. Sounds thin and has no bass no matter how much you boost it in the software (which sounds horrible). 
 
I had a Creative AE-5 before upgrading to the Nu Audio Pro. so yeah $180 5.1 to a $300 for 7.1 analog surround sound.
 
Funny thing is Creative AE-5 in 5.1 actually brought out the 2 subs in the Tiamat and sounded awesome till you were in game and turning the camera made vocals or objects were far or too close and etc. due to the 5.1 and not 7.1 . For music though the Tiamats were rocking.
 
Now I've switch to the Nu Audio Pro thinking it was gonna be legit since it was designed by a pro company and etc. Well it literally sounds like garbage with my Tiamats 7.1.
 
Switch to standard to headphone with my Sony MDR-V6 Dynamic Digital Stereo Headphones that have a low bass at 5hz to make sure it wasn't just the sound card being crap.
 
Well what do you know....the Sony MDR-V6 sounded amazing. Bass sounds badass. the highs, mids all sounded amazing. and you can actually push the 600ohm  amp to 100% and have no crackling. lmao
 
Then i tried another headset, some Philips HIFI open back, and they sounded wonderful too. 
 
So the problem is your 7.1
 
SO FIX IT. YOU CANT SELL A SOUND CARD FOR 7.1 AND NOT HAVE 7.1
 
LMAO

Interesting.  I currently have the ae-5 driving Massdrop x AKG K7XX headphones.  I am curious if I would even notice a difference between the two cards.