Diamond Multimedia XtremeSound 7.1 Sound Card Reviews

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Wize has read 363 reviews

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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... from Amazon.com 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. from Amazon.com I purchased this card to use with an internal Blue-ray player, and found it would not output DTS digital 5.1 or 7.1 from the optical SPDIF port (stereo worked OK). When I called technical suppoort they told me that the card did not support either DTS (contrary to claim on box), or Blu-ray. from Amazon.com 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. from Amazon.com And I don't think the cheaper versions output computer generated surround tracks in the optical audio output. The price was quite reasonable for what I got. The card has jacks for analog 7.1 audio - but I'm not using that. Now a word about why I wanted optical audio output: from Amazon.com Pros: Works in XP... Cons: Doesn't work in 64 bit versions of vista. In fact, I contacted Diamond tech support, and none of their sound cards support vista x64. Other Thoughts: Hopes that helps somebody... from Newegg.com Other Thoughts: If your not a total audiophile and just need a cheap way to add sound to your system buy this card. TURN OFF YOUR ONBOARD SOUND IN BIOS BEFORE INSTALL (This is basic but many forget to do this and then complain about sound quality or install problems). ALSO DON'T USE SUPPLIED DRIVERS GO STRAIGHT TO DIAMOND's website. Never been a soundcard freak always had problems w/ drivers in past but this has been smooth. from Newegg.com Cons: I put this in my first setup-ati tv 550, 500gHD, 7900GS, was working fine, then started locking/freezing up my computer. Took out, PC has been running fine since. Put in an older system I just found out the onboard sound wasn't working anymore, just installed drivers (dowloaded from diamond website instead of CD) and thats it, no software or any extras, seems to be working now. Other Thoughts: I'm not sure if it was because I installed everything from the CD the first time...but on the older pc it seems to be working, (but I just installed the drivers, which I downloaded directly from Diamond Website) Older build-- pent 4 1.6ghz, 160HD, 768mb ram, 300wattpsu, 6200 agp. from Newegg.com I was using the Live 24 because the Sigmatel card on my Gateway doesn't support simultaneous analog and digital output on Vista 32. I connect the analog to the desktop speakers and the digital coaxial to my stereo system digital input. The XtremeSound 7.1 does beautifully. What a relief--and for less than $30. from Amazon.com Cons: VistaDrivers, especially 64bit, takes a little effort to make them work. Read in 'other thoughts'.. Other Thoughts: Diamond does not supply Vista drivers. I gathered a lot of information from the other reviews (thank you to all) and adding some more. from Newegg.com

Released	over 3 years ago
Output Mode	7.1 Channel Surround
Form Factor	Plug-In Card
Compatible Audio Standard	Dolby Digital EX A3D EAX
Compatible Audio Standards	Dolby Digital EX A3D EAX
Bit Depth	24-bit
MPN	XS71DDL
Max. Sample Rate	96 kHz
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP
Package Qty	1

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