If anybody is still interested in this, i think i have the solution, to have the 10 band equalizer (like in XP) in Win 7 (and hopefully on vista) with some 'tweak'
That worked me:
First uninstall all audio drivers, and before restarting install the realtek hd audio driver (what is on the realtek site) After that restart the pc and install the ac 97 audio driver for xp (run in compatibility mode, it worked fine for me) After the restart find the the Realtek AC97 folder in program files, then run RTLCPL.exe and the 'xp style' sound manager should open with the good old eq.
This eq controls the same >things< so if you press the rock button here and open the hd audio manager you will see the changes there also. If you set something what is different from the presets the hd manager will display ' <none> ' After you have the setting save them as Default, then you won't need to to this again after restart. Keep in mind that if you modify something in the hd manager you have to set the eq in RTLCPL.exe.
I don't know if it will work for everybody but it worth a try.
I have an msi p965 neo motherboard, running windows 7 prof 64 bit. (its not cracked, it is legal from university)
Sorry for my bad English, i'm from Hungary, but hope this will help