Diamond XtremeSound 7.1/24 bit Sound Card with Dolby Digital Live ( XS71DDL )

I bought this audio card so that my PC (Microsoft XP operating system) that I'm using as a media center has an optical output for my stereo. I followed the installation directions (install disk included) and had no problem installing the card. I connected the optical output to my stereo and I confess that the sound quality brought a bit of a tear to my eye - It was that good!

CD's that I had previously ripped to the computer (high quality setting) sounded better than from my CD player. I could tell that the surround was working on the CD's.

There is a separate install for WinDVD for this card - I already had WinDVD installed on my machine. I played a DVD and it sounded great too!

There are other (somewhat cheaper) versions of audio cards with optical audio out. But read the reviews like I did - Some of them have installation issues. 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:
I'm an electronic engineer. Computers are electrically very noisy for analog signals. All that digital processing, switching power supplies, and questionable analog signal grounding create a lot of audio noise on the computer ground and analog audio outputs. By using an optical output from the computer to my stereo I eliminate these noise sources from the audio path. And it works! Before using analog outputs from the computer to my stereo, I didn't so much notice "noise" as I noticed an apparent lack of dynamic range in music. The noise tends to fill in the quiet spots in the audio. Also, going to 24 bit sound helps dynamic range quite a lot!

It's a great sound card for hooking into a stereo and listening to music if you have optical inputs on your stereo. And, if you don't have optical inputs on your stereo - It's time to step into the 21st century!

Chazzz

I made a serious mistake when buying this product, my own fault. Although it does exactly what it says it does, know that it does not pass through a DD 5.1 signal to any external amplifier. DD Live does a fine job with stereo material, but it has no LFE when feeding it a 5.1 source if you use this, its best to feed it nothing but stereo files. Its great for its various formats, but if I had read all the reviews, I woulda purchased something else.

I had to dowload a vista driver for this to run but it installed easily and runs without issue. A decent product

I clean installed Vista Ultimate..all was cool except my sound..the infamous x speaker icon. Downloaded all the web solutions to get my SB Live 5.1 going but no "compatiblity"...The reviews here said this card will work so i bought one...put the card in..blew out all my dust..tried to install the drivers from the CD.."incompatible..what!.." went back and checked the reviews..oic..the CD does not work...let Vista find the drivers...did that...and my Rhaposody is sounding better than ever...SO YES from my experience THIS CARD WORKS WITH VISTA!...yeah there are a few weird messages and stuff if u try to install the software..but hey...my promise of never buying a creative sound card again was met...payback is a beach as thet say. Hasta la Vista Creative.

I bought this card to hook my computer up to my home theater receiver, and it works great. Good quality and many options to change the sound perfomance. Definite recommondation.