Diamond XtremeSound 7.1/24 bit Sound Card ( XS71 )
by Diamond
List Price:
Our Price: $18.48
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Category: CE
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Customers in the UK,
buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: DiamondAudio: English (Original Language)
Format: CD
Platform: Windows
Model: XS71
Product features:
- Device Type - Sound card
- Interface Type - PCI
- Sound Output Mode - 7.1
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Diamond XtremeSound 7.1/24 bit Sound Card ( XS71 )
Customer Review: Underrated, Excellent.
Summary: 5 Stars
Just as the title says, this card is underrated and excellent. Once I had the right drivers and had it configured correctly, the sound quality just blew me away.
I had been using onboard audio with a 5.1 PC speaker system and thought "Yay! Sounds great!" I bought this because I wanted to connect my HDTV's audio out into the card to have surround sound for my shows.
...I was unprepared for the amazing difference in power and sound quality. For a moment, I thought I was going to bother my neighbors at one point. It's that loud, that powerful.
Now, it's not all wine and roses, however. Installation was a terrible, terrible mess. I have Windows 7 (32 bit) and this card was made with XP and Vista in mind. After reading the reviews here and seeing that the chipset manufacturer had the correct drivers, my problems were solved, and the window shaking commenced. (Thank you folks for posting the info!)
The instructions (or lack thereof) leave a lot to be desired, and trying to figure this thing out on your own is something right up Indiana Jones' alley. (You're better served just trying things out on your own, rather than depending on the ridiculous waste of paper they call instructions.)
The S/PDIF (Coax digital) in and out puts are not 4, 6, or 8 channel, they are merely 2 channel, and it's misleading. (the surround fields are handled by using PC speakers in the multicolored minijacks on the back of the card, in analog.)
The analog line in is stereo, but that's it. You can't get surround sound out of this input. Although, a faint, fauz "surround" tries to make it sound like it's something it's not.
On the flipside, the card does produce wondrous sound, takes a load off of the CPU and RAM (which is a noticeable change!), includes the wonderful freeware Audacity, and even has WinDVD on the disc!
The card itself is well made and handles it's job nicely. For that, I give it a solid 5 stars and recommend it. I will not blame an inanimate object for shortcomings that are beyond it's control.
Diamond is solely to blame for that.
No mention of what you're getting with the digital portion, no instructions, terrible installation problems, no customer support for Windows 7 (I mean, even the no name chipset manufacturer stepped up and did the deed...) Argh...it's simply frustrating.
Don't expect miracles, don't expect perfection (I mean, it's a $30.00 sound card, c'mon...) but do expect an awe inspiring experience once everything's set right.
For the price paid, it's an excellent upgrade, and I'd do it again in a second.
I highly recommend this card, and for the price? Geez...you can't get better than this.
Description of Diamond XtremeSound 7.1/24 bit Sound Card ( XS71 )
Diamond's XtremeSound 7.1 Sound Card helps you improve your sound Experience for MP3s, Games, Movies, Music and more! Diamond Xtreme Sound allows the user to experience high level, theater quality sound while watching videos, listening to music, and playing games all in true 7.1 channel surround sound. Dolby EX and DTS formats for 6.1/7.1 channel DVD playback at 24bit/96khz; 48k/16bit recording; 7.1 virtual speaker shifter providing surround sound for CDs and MP3s, PCI 2.2 interface with bus mastering and burst modes. System requirements include 850mhz CPU, available PCI slot, 128MB of RAM, a CD-ROM drive, amplified speakers, and Windows 2000 or later.Digital Cameras and Photo Categories
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