Diamond Multimedia XtremeSound PCIe 7.1 Channels Low Profile 24-Bit Sound Card XS71HD

I used to have an Auzentech Home Theatre HD, as I wanted a nice PCI-e 1x sound card, being that my motherboard had an abundance of them while the sole non express PCI slot was obscured by my graphics card. I did not want to go with a Creative card as the company has been on a long downward trend in quality and support. The Auzentech card I used to use actually has a creative X-Fi chip on it, and uses a reskin of Creative's software. The software, as it turns out, is horrifying. While the features were all there, the interface had massive latency, and had an unjustifiably convoluted layout. Also, it only allowed for one active recording device, be it the stereo mix, microphone or line in, despite having physical ports for all of them. This meant I could not record audio from a game and a microphone at the same time. Boot times also were increased, even with a fresh windows install.I needed a new sound card.Since I did not need digital or RCA connections, I left the daughter board and ribbon cable out of the case, so I am unable to comment on their use. Both the main card and the daughter board have low profile brackets, if you have a low profile case.Diamond uses C-Media's software for configuring their card, and you can get it from Diamond's website. If you've used other sound cards with C-Media's chips, you might be familiar with the interface. I was completely new to it, and the only thing that took me a while was realizing I could right click on the audio devices to change their settings. Once you know that, finding and adjusting all the settings becomes quick and easy. This is one of the better user interfaces for sound cards.The importance of the C-Media chip is that it is the same one used on the significantly more expensive Asus Xonar Phoebus, a card which is over 3x the price of this currently. So the two cards share the same codec, but the Phoebus has more expensive amps. That should mean the Phoebus should sound better, if you have demanding headphones and good ears.There are not separate physical ports for microphone in and line in. You select in the audio interface whether the input port functions as a microphone in or line in. This is due to the limited space available to a low profile card. I worked around this by using my motherboard's integrated audio ports. Realtek's audio drivers for my motherboard and this soundcard's drivers don't interfere with each other. While the motherboard's integrated audio isn't as good, I only needed one other input for plugging in my guitar to tune it.In addition to costing much less, it also consumes very little power. Unlike many high end sound cards which utilize super powerful amps, this card doesn't get blazingly hot to the touch.My time spent with this card has exceeded 3 months, and I've had no problems with it.TLDR: If you're looking for an affordable sound card that packs a high quality to price ratio, fits in those many PCI-e slots on your motherboard, and has software that's not a nightmare to work with, this is one to seriously consider.

I purchased this card because I needed a digital coax input for my PC. Using an HP 500-314 with 16g ram Windows 8.1. The software for the card I received did not recognize the coax input even though I disabled and uninstalled the Windows sound devices. I tried reseating the card and also different slots but still got the same results. I returned for a replacement but again with the replacement the software would not recognize a coax input although if one was hooked up sound passed through - but it was buggy and noisy with crackles and pops. I returned that one as well and ordered a Creative ZxR instead. I'll review that when I receive it. Also both cards were shipped in a flimsy mailing envelope instead of a box (envelope was torn open on the first one) leaving it vulnerable to bangs and bumps along the way. I don't know if this was a contributory factor for the cards not working properly but a product of this nature should be shipped in a protective box due to the delicate electronic components within.

Received timely. Had to return it because the s/pdif in did not work (both coax and optical). The outs worked correctly, but the software did not recognize it as being there, and neither did two computers (tried on two separate computers to make sure it wasn't a pc/slot problem). Also tried it in regular and x16 slots.The only thing i could surmise is that when it is 'properly' seated in the slot, you could not screw the bracket down to the case. Screwing the bracket down (properly) would result in the card slightly canted forward. Perhaps it was enough to cause problems with the interface traces such that there was not proper contact of all traces. Didn't try running it without screwing down bracket because it's not like I would want to use it like that and eventually screw up the slot, card, or both over time of connecting and disconnecting connectors.

I have a PCI version of Diamond XtremeSound 7.1 sound card on old PC. I built a new PC in which the MB doesn't have PCI slot. So I browsed around and decided to buy this one.The sound card works fine on 16X PCIE slot. When inserted it onto 1X PCIE slot, it doesn't work. Since I have 3 16X PCIE slots on MB, I leave it on one of them.Besides, Win7 can't detect this card after I plugged it onto MB. I have to use Diamond driver CD to run installation. I also downloaded the C-media driver for CM8828 (the chip the sound card uses), it doesn't work for installation.I just used it for couple days, sound quality wise, it's comparable to my old PCI Diamond 7.1 card. Noise level wise, this one is better.

It's tough finding low profile sound cards, and then most have optical output for 5.1 or 7.1, I needed coaxial to match up to an available input on my Panasonic digital receiver. It has two coax inputs and 2 optical inputs. Trouble is the little door on my DVR optical input broke and the cable won't securely click into anymore. Rather than mess with an optical to coaxial converter (which I already purchased a year ago), I decided to simplify things by getting a new card. My HP 6000 Pro was a business PC and only offered stereo sound. Upgrading to Dolby digital was a nice step up for my HTPC. Still, it cost about 25% of the purchase price of the off-lease HP computer. Ouch!.My other HP 6000 Pro also is used as a HTPC in our living room, but the Panasonic all in one Blu-ray system has only 2 optical inputs, so really any of the cheaper low profile cards with optical output will do. Right now I'm using an old Turtle Beach Advantage Amigo with an optical output to connect it to my receiver. I may go another route and pick up another video card with HDMI out. I found one that says it will carry sound over the same cable, which would eliminate the need to connect to the receiver from the computer and the computer to the TV for the video portion. I'd be able to run a single cable to the TV, and then the TV digital output would go to the Blu-ray receiver. Sweet!

muy buen producto, recomendable! y funciono en TODOS los sistemas operativo - OjO para windows 10 tienes que bajar el driver nuevo.