7.1 Channel USB External Sound Card Audio Adapter

by Unknown

Product Details

• Item Weight: 10.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B0027EMHM6
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (120 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #376 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 23, 2009

Product Description

Plug the Sound Adapter into your USB port, and then plug your headphones into the Adapter. Ta-Da! 7.1 Channel sound without the investment in a whole set of speakers! Tired of trying to stretch your cables around the back of your computer? Plug this Adapter into a USB port on the front, and use the headphone jack (for output) or the microphone jack (for input). The USB Virtual 7.1 Channel Sound Adapter is a highly flexible audio interface which can be used either with desktop or notebook systems. Comes bundled with Xear 3D Sound simulation software, and turns your stereo speaker or earphones into a 7.1 channel environment! USB2.0 Full-Speed (12Mbps) Specification USB HID Class Specification 1.1 USB Audio Device Class Specification 1.0. USB bus-powered, no external power required. Connectors: USB Type A, Stereo output jack, mono microphone input jack Xear 3D virtual 7.1 channel sound simulation software for Windows XP / Vista is included Functions keys: Microphone-Mute, Speaker-Mute, Volume-Up and Volume-Down LED indicators: Microphone-Mute Status, Activity Plug and Play. No drivers required for Windows 98SE / ME / 2000 / XP / Server 2003 / Vista, Linux, MacOS Dimensions: 2.25" x 1.0" x .50" Package Includes: -- 1 x 7.1 Channel External USB Audio Sound Card Adapter -- 1 x Software Disc for Xear 3D

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Worth It, November 13, 2009

By 

Jesse D. Waite - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 7.1 Channel USB External Sound Card Audio Adapter (Electronics)

I've seen plenty of good reviews for this thing, but frankly you'd think they were written by employees of the manufacturer. The card plugs in easily into a USB port, but it just hangs there flimsily and unsupported, ready to break your jack at the slightest application of force. So be careful. Also, I used mine for two days before it just quit working. This was due to the fact that this is one of those devices suffering from collapsed button disorder. There are two mute buttons at the top/front of the device, for muting either the speakers or a mic. This entire button will collapse into the device itself without any excess of pressure, and it cannot be raised without risking breaking the device itself by jamming a thin piece of metal into the groove to lift it back out. I fixed my own button, but at that point the thing just stopped working. So don't be fooled by the price and get something a little nicer, and a little sturdier. I mean jeez, what does it take to get dependable stuff these days instead of disposable junk that doesn't even work? Hosed again.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not recommended - better alternatives for same price, January 8, 2010

By 

501(c)Geek (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 7.1 Channel USB External Sound Card Audio Adapter (Electronics)

We bought this to evaluate its suitability as a headset adapter for use with Skype on Macintosh. We found that it is inferior in all respects to a similar product by the same manufacturer, the Syba SD-CM-UAUD USB Stereo Audio Adapter, C-Media Chipset, RoHS. Avoid this 7.1 version and get the simpler one for the same price that lacks the chintzy buttons, has correct color coding, a smaller and shorter housing, better build quality, and is better identified in OS X.

As other commenters have noted, the exterior buttons are very flimsy and do feel like they could break with a strong push. Their only function is to send a signal to the computer to change the software volume level, which can also be easily done using the volume control in the operating system or via the keyboard if it has multimedia buttons. On many computers the USB ports are inaccessible anyway, so why bother adding these cheap buttons that weaken the whole case, when many people can't even reach them?

The jacks are color coded in yellow and black, not the standard pink and green that headset jacks use. For what possible reason? Yellow plastic was cheaper? They are also labeled with tiny icons that are very hard to tell apart, and the labels are not next to the jacks but on the top face with all the buttons.

The USB plug on our unit is angled off-center, again suggesting shoddy construction.

On the plus side - it does work as advertised. Although the device is identified as "Unknown USB Audio Device" by OS X, it does input and output sound fine, and loudly. The chipset is advertised on the box as the C-Media CM119, and it's a USB 2.0 device. The "virtual 7.1" gimmick appears to be "3d surround sound" software by Xear, which comes on a mini-CD and is Windows only. I think it's safe to say this is basically a non-feature.

It would be a marginally acceptable solution to using a headset with a Mac or other computer that lacks a headphone jack, but again the similar yet entirely superior Syba SD-CM-UAUD USB Stereo Audio Adapter is a far better choice. See my review of that device on its product page for more info.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Does what it is supposed to but falls victim to poor craftmanship, October 17, 2009

By 

L. Sprecher (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 7.1 Channel USB External Sound Card Audio Adapter (Electronics)

The adapter is as easy as it gets to use right out of the box and worked well as a substitute to my faulty laptop headphone jack, but the quality of the device itself is very poor. I have had mine for a month or so and it has fallen apart completely. Upon receipt, I noticed that the outer case was already separating, and within a couple of weeks the headphone contacts began to disconnect so I had to continually find the "sweet spot" to get any audio to come out of the headphones. As cheap as it was, it served as a good experiment but it is not something that I will waste my time or money on again.