StarTech.com 4 Channel PCI Sound Card with AC97 3D Audio Effects Sound Cards PCISOUND4CH

by StarTech

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 1.4 x 5.5 inches ; 0.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000FHQTNU
• Item model number: PCISOUND4CH
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #22 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Computer Components > Internal Sound Cards
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 31, 2012

Product Description

This 4-channel PCI sound card delivers high quality, multi-channel audio capability and supports Full-Duplex operation for simultaneous recording and playback. The sound card includes a microphone port for applications requiring audio input (voice chat etc.), two audio output ports for rich, clear sound, a Line-In port for simple connection of auxiliary devices, and for the gamer, the card includes a Game/MIDI port for using your legacy serial joysticks/gamepads in Windows XP or older operating systems. Providing a reliable, high quality audio experience, the 4-channel PCI sound card is backed by StarTech.com's Lifetime Warranty.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing product for price, September 29, 2009

By 

Kirstie "Proud Geek" (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: StarTech.com 4 Channel PCI Sound Card with AC97 3D Audio Effects Sound Cards PCISOUND4CH (Personal Computers)

My hard drive crashed in my six-year-old Dell Dimension 8400, Pentium 4, 2 Gb of RAM. The OEM Creative SoundBlaster was a "special" model placed in Dell computers. The drivers were no longer available. I still wanted the computer to have sound but did not want to spend a lot of money for an older machine. This sound card by StarTech is perfect. The sound was much better than I expected. In fact, I'd have to say it sounded better than the SoundBlaster ever did. Setup was extremely easy. The software on the CD-Rom is very simple to use. I had no problems running it on my Windows XP Pro operating system. I would definitely consider other products from StarTech

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works on Windows 7, March 23, 2010

By 

D. Lantgen "mc dez nutz" (Tokyo, Ja) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: StarTech.com 4 Channel PCI Sound Card with AC97 3D Audio Effects Sound Cards PCISOUND4CH (Personal Computers)

There was no reviewer here that stated this works with Windows 7. I'm happy to say it does. Did not try the software it came with but it is for winxp and below. Installed the card and Windows did not have drivers but was able to give a link to a website to get drivers. After installing drivers and restarting computer; card works great!! Best priced solution to get sound on an upgraded winxp to windows 7 HP computer which HP no longer supports.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Win7 Buyer Beware!, April 26, 2011

By 

Sarah E. Heinemann - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: StarTech.com 4 Channel PCI Sound Card with AC97 3D Audio Effects Sound Cards PCISOUND4CH (Personal Computers)

I know folks previous have said this card works fine with Windows 7. I'll have to provide a dissenting experience. I've been upgrading my own PCs for over 15 years so I know what I'm doing here for the most part.

In short, one set of drivers works fine except when you try to open the software utility that runs the card. On a fresh install of Win7 this creates a processing loop that hangs the computer and you have to force a reboot. Another set of drivers works fine except that the sampling rate is not correct, so any sound input via mic is distorted, making your speaking sound like a chipmunk during playback. So Skype, Ventrilo/Teamspeak, sound recording, etc are all unusable with this card. (Note, the most recent driver for this card is from 2008/Vista).

After months of trying to keep it working, the only method I found was using an older driver and turning off Windows automatic updates (because Windows keeps trying to update to the newest driver which is worse) and never trying to open the utility program. Keeping Windows updated is necessary though, so I've decided to remove the card and get a different one. I'm past the return date though so I can't get my money back.

So if you are a Windows7 user please think very carefully about getting this card. I wanted something cheap since my onboard sound hardware failed, but dearly wish I'd spent a little more money on something that the manufacturer states is compatible with Win7, since that at least would give me a leg to stand on if it doesn't work, in addition to having better driver updates going forward.