Blue Screen Specials -- Aureal Vortex SQ1500

[Raly]

When I use the Aureal Vortex SQ1500 Quad PCI sound card with Aces High, and the sound card is set to use DirectSound Hardware Acceleration, I receive random blue screens. Half of the time the screen is recoverable, and the other half requires a reboot. I've tried completely disabling DirectSound Hardware Acceleration, and this seems to work, but at a degradation of sound, and a total lack of 3D audio. Since Aureal no longer exists, and I can't really download the 'latest drivers' for Win9x, I've come here for suggestions. Thanks!

Hardware setup:

AMD Duron 850MHz @ 200MHz FSB
PNY GeForce 3 4x AGP
512 MB PC100 RAM
Aureal Vortex SQ1500
RealTek 10/100 Mbps NIC
MS Sidewinder 3D Pro (Original)
MS Windows 98 SE

[Raly]

I've tried nearly everything, and in addition to only being able to use this Aureal card without DirectSound Hardware Acceleration, there is a fuzzy noise whenever a sound plays -- and you can really hear it when something is in the distance (i.e. aircraft). I've also noticed that, even at the highest volume setting, my voice transmission quite low on both AHVoice and Battlecom. So I've come to the conclusion that either a.) The Vortex reference drivers have a complete lack of DirectX support or b.) The Aureal card itself does not put out enough power. With that, I've swapped the card out with a Sound Blaster.