SIIG CE-S00012-S2 USB SoundWave 7.1 Audio Adapter

by SIIG

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000IF2EHE
• Item model number: CE-S00012-S2
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #39 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Computer Components > Internal Sound Cards
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 12, 2006

Product Description

SIIG CE-S00012-S2 USB SoundWave 7.1 Audio Adapter

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect solution to noisy audio, February 6, 2009

By 

Ed S. (Silicon Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SIIG CE-S00012-S2 USB SoundWave 7.1 Audio Adapter (Personal Computers)

The hub of our home entertainment system is an Intel-based Mac Mini, which does a great job with video but has terrible built-in audio: the output level is way too low, and when amplified is nearly drowned out by buzzes, whirs and other ambient electronic noise.

I bought the SIIG USB SoundWave 7.1 to bypass the lousy built-in audio, and it works perfectly. I just plugged it in, connected the stereo to the 1/8" jack, and selected it as the default audio device. The driver built into Mac OS offers only volume and balance controls, but I wasn't expecting anything fancy. Now I can leave my stereo volume way down at 4 instead of 40, and enjoy clear, undistorted audio.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good sound for headphones, but not for speakers, March 10, 2008

By 

Mark J. Lehman "www.markjlehman.com" (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SIIG CE-S00012-S2 USB SoundWave 7.1 Audio Adapter (Personal Computers)

I use a laptop for mostly home computing, and I watch a lot of TV and movies on my laptop with a nice set of Klipsch speakers, Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 THX Certified Computer Speaker System (Black). When my laptop sound card stopped functioning, I didn't want to pay a lot of money to install a new internal card, so I got this little USB thing.

The sound quality is very good, and the diagnostic program that comes with it helps you create exactly the sound you want, which is nice since on the default setting there was a very noticeable echo. With a little bit of tweaking, I got that cleared up. When I use my headphones, the sound is actually better than when I used them with my old sound card.

My problem is with using my speakers. They are powerful speakers, and maybe that's the issue, but as soon as I turn the volume up past 1/4 of the dial, there is a noticeable buzzing in the speakers, and it only gets louder and more intrusive the higher the volume goes.

Given the other options, though, I would still buy this product again. It is a great package, has some great features, and is a great deal for the price.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Audiophile Sound for Laptops, September 14, 2009

By 

K. Beach "KRB" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SIIG CE-S00012-S2 USB SoundWave 7.1 Audio Adapter (Personal Computers)

Because I can hardly abide the strident, grainy sound of MP3 files (even at 320 KBPS), I've started ripping my favorite compact discs to the lossless FLAC format with "CD Ripper" by Apen Software. When it comes to playback, "Winamp" by Nullsoft has a built-in FLAC codec and handles my files just fine. Unfortunately, my Dell laptop's built-in sound card does not.

Based upon other Amazon reviews and my own intuition, I purchased the Rohs USB Soundwave 7.1 for a pittance. I hoped for the best but I was prepared to be underwhelmed. I didn't need to worry. My Dell and properly-adjusted Rohs Soundwave now power my Vic Firth isolation headphones to near Stax-like sound. This is not hyperbole.

The trick is to make sure you open up the Xear 3D control that the Rohs Soundwave installation places in your Windows tray (down by the clock in the lower right-hand corner of your screen).

From the Main Settings tab:
(1)Select the headphone icon to indicate your output device
(2)Turn on the Virtual 7.1 mode
(3) Turn down the volume setting for each headphone channel

From the Effect tab:
(1) Select Generic environment from the droplist
(2) Select the icon representing the smallest Environment Size (right most of the three icons)

Enjoy!