A no brainer.... | Diamond XtremeSound 7.1/24 bit Sound Card ( XS71 )

love it | Diamond XtremeSound 7.1/24 bit Sound Card ( XS71 )

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	• Diamond XtremeSound 7.1/24 bit Sound Card ( XS71 ) Diamond Diamond average customer review:based on 21 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Inexpensive and works fine with Vista

I bought this sound card because the onboard 7.1 audio on my Dell Inspiron 630 desktop was outputting an annoying background hum at higher volume levels. I had this computer for a year and never noticed that hum before recently obtaining a new set of Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speakers. The new speakers are so good that it makes all audio flaws more obvious.

After considerable research I concluded (correctly) that this card would work well with Vista Home Premium (32 bit). I also wanted the ability to connect via the digital SPDIF connection (coaxial). I would have preferred a card that had both optical (TOSLINK) and coaxial, but I had a higher priority to keep the cost reasonable. Cards that have optical, coaxial, and analog connectors are a minimum of 4 times the cost of this card.

After disabling the onboard sound (in BIOS) and in the Control Panel, I installed the XS71 card. Upon booting the system automatically found the best driver over the internet connection.

My first evaluation test was using the new XS71 analog connections which are identical to those I had used on my motherboard. The same annoying hum was still there! I then switched my speaker system to the coaxial connector (both sets of connector types were plugged in at the same time and both were sending audio). To my delight the hum was finally gone!

The coaxial audio has a much lower volume level than the analog connection, but even after increasing the volume all the way there was no sign of any hum or other interference. I'm not an audiophile by any means, but if the audio was improved compared to the onboard sound, I couldn't detect it.

I use the computer primarily for business purposes with occasional viewing of movies and on rare occasions a little gaming (Command & Conquer). For these purposes this sound system really is overkill. If I did a lot more gaming or had a discerning audiophile "ear", I likely would still not be 100% satisfied with the overall audio quality and would be very tempted to try out one of those much more expensive cards.

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A no brainer....

I was (and still am) stunned that such a product is available for $30. Installation was a snap, software is fantastic and the end result is brilliant. It completely completely blew away my expectations. I have the digital coax connected to a Yamaha sound bar and sound is excellent. DVD's, online shows are fantastic.

The software offers a lot of configuration options based on your speaker positions, strategy (5.1, 7.1).

It's excellent... end of story :)

love it

I bought this sound card over a year ago and have been very happy with it. Sound is great with all my games and movies. Only drawback is I cant download a new driver due to Diamond Multimedia's website having some issues. Buy it and you shouldn't be disappointed. One other drawback, I can't find 7.1 speakers locally

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Price/Features Ratio worth purchase but...

Please be warned that there aren't any drivers for Windows XP 64. If you have that operating system you will have to install the "XP recommended" Matrox drivers which do not allow you to take full advantage of this product. For my purposes ('Digital In' from my Yamaha MO6 Keyboard) it works fine with the recommended windows drivers.

Otherwise, good product.

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. This is an essential upgrade for anyone interested in increasing their computer audio experience while freeing up valuable computer system resources.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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