Customer Reviews

Diamond XS51 XtremeSound 5.1 16 bit Sound Card

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I needed a new sound card for an older computer and didn't want to spend a lot of money. This card fit the bill perfectly. While Windows XP didn't install the card natively, once the drivers were loaded off of the enclosed installation disk, the system rebooted and there was sound.

Don't expect audiophile quadraphonic rock-your-world super-duper sound for $20. But good stereo sound - good enough to play your kids' crappy mp3's for hours and hours - you'll get plenty of that.

I have experienced none of the problems stated by the reviewer George Heiser. This card works just fine on my computer.

Now, to why I rated the product 5 stars. I recently bought the Logitech X-530 5.1 system and needed a new sound card to replace my old on-board card. Sound Blaster cards and other big brand cards were very expensive, and I was on a budget. Then I find this card, a 5.1 standard 6-channel sound card for $19.99! I ordered it and it came in two days. I installed the card then followed the instructions and in about five minutes the card was working perfectly. The hardware the comes with the card is basic, but fine for my needs. I did experience one problem with the card, but I had it was because of a dead PCI slot (Opon moving it to another, the problem was fixed).

Put simply, this card works. If you are on a budget and need a new sound card, go for this card. I mean, it's nothing fancy but for $19.99 you can't go wrong.

I ordered this card to put in my mother's computer. She needed a basic card for listening to online music and such - nothing fancy - and this fit the bill. Install was a snap and took perhaps 10 minutes. I encountered no problems with drivers on XP and she was back up and happily listening to music within 15 minutes. Perhaps not the card for a picky audiophile, but great as a no-frills, good quality card which delivers surprisingly good sound for such little money.

You can't loose with this sound card if all you want to do is upgrade what you would find on a typical motherboard. Nothing fancy, just noticeably better and at a good price.
Mike

I bought this card for a friend whose C Medica AC97 Audio Device stopped working on their HP Pavaillon Desktop. After trouble shooting and wasting time trying to install drivers that didn't work, I finally decided the simplest solution was to find a budget sound card. This was an older computer that just need the sound working again with minimal fuss and money to get the sound back. I found this sound card at office depot for only 19.99. I read some reviews on my iPhone before my purchase to make sure it was a trouble free install, and it only took 5 minutes to get everything working. I would disable/uninstall your integrated sound from your MOBO before you add a new sound card. That being said its a good sound card.

I am in full agreement of the first review! No amount of coaxing has worked for installing the 16-bit card, so I bought the 24-bit card, same thing! I emailed and called costumer support, however there is no support. No return emails, nobody is ever available by phone. Stay away, do not buy, be warned! You get what you pay for.

I recently upgraded my OS to Windows Vista x64 (64-bit) and was not happy with the fact that there aren't any updated onboard audio drivers for my obsolete Intel-based micro-ATX motherboard. I conducted some careful research on what sound cards are compatible with Vista and Windows 7. I thought the Diamond Xtreme Sound 5.1 card would take care of my needs while staying within a tight budget. I bought the sound card, took it home, installed it, installed the driver, and rebooted my PC. I was very disappointed with the sound after the reboot process was completed. The audio sounded like it was inside a large metal pipe or room - clearly not what I wanted to hear. I tried to adjust the environment settings to no avail. I uninstalled the driver for the card, downloaded another similar driver for that card, and rebooted the PC. The audio sounded a little better, but the metal echoing was still there. I went to the website of the company that made my obsolete sound card I still had. The website had no drivers for Vista so I spent some time searching for other links that might show me where I could find a driver to work in Vista. After a few minutes of searching, I found and downloaded a driver for the obsolete sound card. I yanked out the Diamond sound card, put in my obsolete Turtle Beach Catalina card, booted up my PC, installed the Vista driver for the Catalina card, and rebooted my PC. I was very happy to hear audio again - clear and natural with no noise artifacts.

I would advise you not to buy the Diamond Xtreme Sound card because of the ugly sound it plays. Sure it's a basic sound card, but one shouldn't have to put up with metallic echoing - not natural and not worth it.

The sound card was not compatible with Flight Simulator X and caused it to lock up even without the gameport being used. The game port was not recognized by Win XP and there were no instructions on how to configure the gameport. In fact the product specs didn't even mention that the game port was there. Overall a disappointing product.

My onboard audio quit working, so I just wanted the most basic sound card I could find. This is it, works fine. Actually sounds really good with my cheap sub and 2 micro speakers. Installed in Asus M2N SLI motherboard running Windows Vista 32 bit.

I installed this earlier today and could not be happier. I needed something basic since my on-board audio went unexpectedly. Great price and it works well with my 5.1 set up. I do my gaming on consoles so I did not need anything elaborate. Still, the sound quality is good and the features satisfy my needs. Installation was a snap. I had to disable the on board audio in my Bios, powered down, physically installed the card, started the PC back up, hit cancel when XP detected the hardware, fired up the included CD and launched the installation software. Everything just worked and took me a total of about 15 minutes.