By the way, the 32-bit XP drivers + soundmax control panel were by far the best.
Never had Vista, so i am comparing only with Win7 x64, that i am currently use.

I think the creative software is your problem, since the driver package is ok.
Since there are equalizer functions in soundmax original software package for Win7 x64, at least equalizer should work also with creative.
I would start with this and then check EAX.