StarTech.com 7.1 USB Sound Card - External Sound Card for Laptop with SPDIF Digital Audio - Sound Card for PC - Silver (ICUSBAUDIO7D)

For the price, thought it's bound to be an awkward product to use or will have mess around to get it working. I was so wrong, it installed within minutes, found drivers and correct software and worked immediately. Only issue was that optical isn't enabled from standard and seemed like it didn't work however to enable you need to right click the source then enable and that's it. Well worth the money and has tons of connectivity, spec for the price was even better than the Creative external soundcards with optical out... Defo buy it, great product... One other thing though is that the usb cable is only about a metre long so if desktop on the floor you'll likely need a USB extention cable so not the end of the world.

Boosting your laptop or desktop audio to 7.1 channels without cracking open the case? That’s exactly what this external USB sound card delivers. It supports up to 7.1 analog outputs via 3.5 mm jacks, plus a headphone port, line-in, and two mic inputs. You even get SPDIF digital output (though limited to stereo at 48 kHz) for cleaner audio when you need it Installation is the kind of plug-and-play we actually appreciate: Windows detects it, and the included software—or CD if you’re living in 2012—lets you toggle outputs, adjust volume, and mute as needed. Sampling rates are basic but sufficient—44.1 kHz and 48 kHz analog, and 48 kHz for SPDIF It’s a compact, portable solution so you can ditch onboard audio and still sound decent. Useful for home theaters, gaming, presentations—you pick. Reviews hover around 4 out of 5 stars, with over 1,800 ratings, so it’s not a flash-in-the-pan gadget Amazon. Pros • Up to 7.1 analog output without internal installation • SPDIF digital output option (2-channel) • Plenty of I/O: headphone, line-in, dual mics • Plug-and-play on Windows; basic external controls • Compact and portable Cons • SPDIF output only delivers stereo (not full surround) • Older install method includes a CD—may be annoying if your laptop lacks a drive • No top-tier audio fidelity, but good enough for non-pro audio tasks Verdict If you want a no-hassle way to get multi-channel audio or an external sound upgrade, this does exactly that—nothing fancy, but dependable. Four stars: delivers what it promises, with a few minor caveats.

I needed this as the onboard sound chip on my motherboard stopped working. It's a little annoying to have to use an external device, but once it's sat on top of the PC case, I soon forgot that it exists. As usual with soundcards, the software for controlling it is not particularly great. You do need to install this though, as you can significantly alter how bassy/tinny etc (bass/treble) it sounds. I suspect some reviews complaining about sound quality have not chosen the right speaker profile and messed with the equalizer. I haven't noticed any lag in the audio, or any weird artifacting in the sound output, so it's doing its job fine and has been for 2 months. It works fine in Linux as well as in Windows, too.

The sound created by the Startech 7.1 USB Audio External Sound Card is okay, though it has a bit of a hollow sound. It doesn't provide any software to control sound quality. I almost returned it because the sound suddenly went to trash after a few minutes of use - constant static and garbled sound. However, I decided to check out the company's website to see if there might be an updated driver for my Vista system. There was, and after installation the sound is as described above. The product is acceptable, but nothing more than that. If you want the ability to control bass or treble, try different effects - or anything that requires software, forget it. The fact that the most current driver isn't included is not good, and that they don't even tell you that you should upgrade it or where to go to get the upgrade is inadequate.

This seemed like a practical solution as my PC won't take a full size sound card and I suspect the onboard sounds are not the best. My sound system is based on an optical/SPDIF from the pc to the amp. I did read in reviews, but not in the makers description, that the SPDIF in and out is "through" only and assumed I was misunderstanding what was written but no, the optical in/out is connected to itself with no function on the sound card. What is the point of including this HiRes connector is it's just a dummy? This is mentioned in the small leaflet that comes in the box however. I also note from the instructions that the software was written for Win7 at the latest when the booklet was printed. Perhaps an update as it's still for sale? I'm not going to return this and I doubt I shall attempt to connect it either based on the customer experience of the software issues. My fault, read everything. An update, and I'm re rating it down to 1 star because there isn't a no stars score. I connected this to my pc and downloaded the drivers for win 10. The software installation couldn't find the hardware even though the computer recognised it and showed that a signal was being sent to the unit. Multiple attempts later, the entire music directory of mp3 and FLAC files on my pc can't be opened. On to utube so to check there. I have my headphones connected to the headphone socket (usb to computer) and, nothing. Just to have a go, I put the headphone socket into the 2.1 surround socket and hey presto, sound. Appalling sound and super loud with all the attenuation using the onboard vol controls, between 1 and 3, after that full volume all the way. This is irrelevant anyway because the 3.5mm jack sockets are so cheap that the plug wouldn't stay in. I uninstalled and repeated the process several times, always with the same results until the last time when I couldn't access any audio from the pc at all using the existing outboard amp (actually, the files couldn't be opened). It's fixed now after an hour of reinstalling audio and other drivers. What a complete and utter piece of sh......

Cette carte audio externe est pile ce que je recherchais. Le pris est correct (des cartes similaires chez Creative coûtent plus de 100 euros en moyenne). Le bouton sur le boîtier est un plus, même si je ne m'en sers pas, ça fait quand même trois possibilités de moduler le son (réglages Windows, le bouton sur les enceintes et ces boutons sur le boîtier). Le son est très bon puisque j'ai un système 5.1. Cela m'a permis de récupérer du son sur un PC où la carte son interne et intégré à la carte mère a lâché. Le produit est arrivé dans les délais annoncés et bien emballé. Ce fut une joie que de retrouver du son sur mon PC.

Compatta, solida e soprattutto perfettamente funzionante. Io la uso per giochi e musiche in 5.1 ed è tutto ok, suono e localizzazione perfetti. Per istallarla ho scaricato dal sito (come consigliato nel manuale cartaceo incluso nella confezione) il software "Xear Audio Center" che permette di gestire facilmente input e output. Consigliatissima.

Device as expected and was extremely reasonable priced. The programs and drivers seem old and the UI looks like its from win95. It isn't necessary for use and can just be a generic usb 2.0 device configured thru windows. It takes a min to configure in win11 but does produce 5.1 surround. Isn't just plug and play, you have to configure it in windows and windows doesn't seem to want to allow you to the menu necessary (No fault of device). I couldn't find the location of the configs in basics system settings menus. WHERE YOU HAVE TO GO TO CONFIGURE: 1-"Open Sound Settings: Type mmsys.cpl into the Windows search bar and press Enter to open the classic Sound control panel.". 2-click on device. 3-configure. Device is great for my use. Computer->EKL Switch->This Device - to transfer my surround between 2 computers using a Logitech 5.1 THX surround. From a gaming standpoint, this functions great and I don't notice a difference between direct motherboard and device sound output. Device shows as DVD quality output.

I loved this audio card it worked perfectly. I connected my old pin5.1 speakers to my Alienware pc.

Thank you for restoring the sound to my PC. An wonderful little device with the right speaker the sound is so good highly recommend this to anyone with a laptop or PC with poor sound card.