Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

In my long search for a Dolby Digital Live card that works with Windows Vista 64, I stumbled upon this beauty. Don't let the low price deceive you. What you need to do to get Dolby Digital Live goodness to work with Vista is to:
1. install the card
2. download the drivers from the c-media website forums for Vista 64 (they won't list the card but which chip is on the card, I believe it is the one that ends with the number 3)
3. connect the spdif to your 5.1 or 7.1 audio receiver
4. set the analog speaker c-media output to 5.1 or 7.1 and make that your default windows output
5. go into the xear settings and switch the output to spdif dolby digital live
6. enjoy dolby digital live with your games (set your games to 5.1 or higher audio. It works great with COD4!)

I was in need of a sound card that would give me 5.1 Dolby Digital Live on the cheap, to work in Vista through my sound system (digital optical input only). I wanted to use this for true surround sound playing the recent crop of Games for Windows and my on-board sound would only ouput 2.1 PCM audio to my speakers. I am happy to report that this card has solved my problem. Bioshock is wonderful with separated channels. I used the drivers that Vista automatically found online and haven't had a problem yet. Would be nice if this card support EAX 5.0, but EAX 2.0 is good enough.

I have always loved my Creative soundcards and this is the first non-creative card I have purchased. I bought this card for two reasons.
1- My Creative Card (X-Fi Elite Pro) lost many of its features (such as its remote control) when I upgraded to Vista.
2-My creative card did not output 5.1 sound to my receiver.
I have my computer in the living room connected to a projector and an amp. If you connect your computer to an amplifier, this is the only card for you because it delivers sound in a 5.1 dolby digital stream.

I just want to confirm that this card does indeed work with Windows Vista. So many cards don't that it is good to find one that does.

You can't use the installation CD or even the December 07 drivers listed on the Diamond web site.

To install:

1. Disable any on board sound card by disabling it in you BIOS when the computer starts.

2. When Windows Vista sees the card, select the option for Windows to find the driver. It will search online and, miracle of miracles, actually find the correct software and install it. Nothing else for you to do.

I haven't checked out all the features, but the sound recording function does works flawlessly.

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'm not used to add ons that do not advertise Vista compatability working immediately upon installation.
Put the card in, reconnected all the cables to the computer, except speaker leads, connected the Optical out Digital feed, to the computer, the other end to my Integra 5.1 receiver, turned everything on, let vista find the new hardware on boot, waited about five minutes while it found, downloaded, and installed the software. So cool! Then I went to control panel, clicked the Xear 3D C-media icon, launching the set-up program. Enabled the 5.1 spdif output, it worked!! Played around with the settings, tried enabling the 7.1 virtual mode, and I was in a live concert with the Neville Brothers. Like I was in New Orleans watching them live. I'm in a live sound room, tile floors and mostly bare walls, and many windows. Not the best for listening. The various sound shifting modes in the set-up allowed me to make up for inconvenient speaker placement and a previously loud & overly bright sound.

I'm very happy with this card and would recommend it to anyone interested in gaining the advantage of spdif output via fiber optic convenience. It's nice having only one audio cable coming out of your computer. The complete installation and set-up took only 45 minutes, and that's with about 20 minutes of playing with all the various sound settings, pumping the volume, closing my eyes and listening too often, and general misbehaving. Don't you love it when a plan comes together?

I bought this sound card exclusively for the Dolby Digital Live feature (get 5.1 through SPDIF in games) and it does the job very well. SPDIF is a digital signal, so there's nothing to worry about the sound quality (I am not sure about the analog connectors though). I suggest downloading the newest drivers from Diamond website instead of using the one that comes with the CD, as they are from 2005. The driver works fine with Windows 7.

For the DDL feature to work, make sure you set your output device in windows to Speakers instead of SPDIF. Took me some time until I discovered this.
It's certainly the best alternative if you just want a Dolby Digital Live sound card.

I love Diamond products and software and this product is much better than anything put out by Creative. Give them credit for offering Window 7 downloads and drivers on their website as well as an affordable alternative to big ticket items that aren't half as good as this. The sound is wonderful and better than any onboard motherboard, Diamond is great and I love how much richer my music and DVDs sound.

I have this a little over a year and it's still going strong. I have rebuilt my HTPC twice since buying this sound card, so it's seen XP, Vista, and now Windows 7(all 32-bit). At first, I had some issues getting the DDL to work correctly in Vista and Win7. Then I found these drivers and everything worked great [...]
The software interface is very different (kinda cheesy), but the functionality is there. All in all, I'm still happy with the card, especially for the price.

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.