StarTech.com 7.1 USB - External Sound Card for Laptop with SPDIF Digital Audio - Sound Card for PC - Silver (ICUSBAUDIO7D)

For the price, thought it's bound to be an awkward product to use or will have mess around to get it working. I was so wrong, it installed within minutes, found drivers and correct software and worked immediately. Only issue was that optical isn't enabled from standard and seemed like it didn't work however to enable you need to right click the source then enable and that's it. Well worth the money and has tons of connectivity, spec for the price was even better than the Creative external soundcards with optical out... Defo buy it, great product... One other thing though is that the usb cable is only about a metre long so if desktop on the floor you'll likely need a USB extention cable so not the end of the world.

Boosting your laptop or desktop audio to 7.1 channels without cracking open the case? That’s exactly what this external USB sound card delivers. It supports up to 7.1 analog outputs via 3.5 mm jacks, plus a headphone port, line-in, and two mic inputs. You even get SPDIF digital output (though limited to stereo at 48 kHz) for cleaner audio when you need it Installation is the kind of plug-and-play we actually appreciate: Windows detects it, and the included software—or CD if you’re living in 2012—lets you toggle outputs, adjust volume, and mute as needed. Sampling rates are basic but sufficient—44.1 kHz and 48 kHz analog, and 48 kHz for SPDIF It’s a compact, portable solution so you can ditch onboard audio and still sound decent. Useful for home theaters, gaming, presentations—you pick. Reviews hover around 4 out of 5 stars, with over 1,800 ratings, so it’s not a flash-in-the-pan gadget Amazon. Pros • Up to 7.1 analog output without internal installation • SPDIF digital output option (2-channel) • Plenty of I/O: headphone, line-in, dual mics • Plug-and-play on Windows; basic external controls • Compact and portable Cons • SPDIF output only delivers stereo (not full surround) • Older install method includes a CD—may be annoying if your laptop lacks a drive • No top-tier audio fidelity, but good enough for non-pro audio tasks Verdict If you want a no-hassle way to get multi-channel audio or an external sound upgrade, this does exactly that—nothing fancy, but dependable. Four stars: delivers what it promises, with a few minor caveats.

I installed Dragon Naturally Speaking voice recognition software to speed up my work - the headphones and mic that they supplied with the software were simple jack type and worked off the sound card in the computer. The software was not satisfactory and when I looked into it I was told that I ideally needed a usb mic and headphone set as voice recognition software never works well with bullt in sound cards. I looked at the price of a good usb mic head set and found they were very expensive - then a little bird tapped on my window and told me about external usb sound cards and how good the star tech external sound card was - after reading rave reviews I bought one - and WOW! what a difference - Dragon Naturally speaking is working like a dream and I now finish my work several hours earlier! and the sound output and quality of the computer using the star tech card is unrecognizably better ( and my laptop is a high quality Sony Viao in the first place!!) I would recommend this to anyone - my husband and son have now ordered one each - the difference in performance between the laptop without the star tech usb external sound card and the laptop with the startech usb external sound card is truly amazing!

This is a neat little device that I've had to use due to a hardware defect in my MacBook Pro audio input. It functions effectively as an adapter, receiving the sound from my laptop via the USB port and converting it out into whatever audio cable I have connected. The downsides are: - It is fairly flimsy; the USB connector doesn't seem to be held that tightly within the plastic casing and at one point bent downward (it return to its normal position with a little wiggling but still concerning). - It is bulky; once you have it plugged in along with an audio cable, it protrudes pretty far. Worse than that - the width of the thing means it ends up blocking the other USB port of my laptop (the same problem I have with large USB sticks). I've had to buy a USB hub to counteract the problem; but of course a USB hub + USB Audio Adapter + Audio Cable means one side of my laptop now looks ridiculous and is unwieldy. My advice is: if you have USB ports that sit on top of each other rather than next to each other, and don't mind that the StarTech adapter is fairly large, you probably won't have any problems. But personally I wish I'd bought a sturdier, smaller alternative. I wouldn't buy this again.

Having purchased an internal sound card recently from somewhere else, I was a little concerned that this would work properly. I wanted to connect my Desktop PC to a 7.1 HT System using the TOSLINK and the sound card only supported 2 channels via this connector. However, this USB Sound Card works a dream. I initially plugged it into a Windows 7 based Laptop and it installed everything first time. A reboot was required and I was quickly able to play some music & films using the full 7.1 surround sound. The next task was to check out this sound card with my desktop PC which has Windows XP. This initially installed the Windows drivers for a USB Sound Card which didn't support 7.1 channels on the TOSLINK. Once I realised that this was the issue I ran the installation program on the supplied CD ROM and the correct drivers are now installed and it works just fine. Page 4 of the manual identifies the chipset used (C-Media CM6206) in case you have a problem finding the driver. Again I can play music & films and all the channels are used. I have briefly tested the other output sockets (headphone & surround outputs) and these all appear to be working. I have yet to use the two microphone sockets to see how good they are at capturing stereo sound. The LED on the device is useful. It flashes slowly when sound is being received, which is a good indicator if you are having configuration problems. The volume & mute controls work too. As for the quality, I've had no problem with this on the TOSLINK output. I no longer have a surround sound that would use the 3.5mm sockets, but may use it if at a friend's home, so I can't comment on their performance at this stage. Overall I am very happy with this product. It has done just what I wanted and works well. It definitely works with both Windows XP & 7.

This seemed like a practical solution as my PC won't take a full size sound card and I suspect the onboard sounds are not the best. My sound system is based on an optical/SPDIF from the pc to the amp. I did read in reviews, but not in the makers description, that the SPDIF in and out is "through" only and assumed I was misunderstanding what was written but no, the optical in/out is connected to itself with no function on the sound card. What is the point of including this HiRes connector is it's just a dummy? This is mentioned in the small leaflet that comes in the box however. I also note from the instructions that the software was written for Win7 at the latest when the booklet was printed. Perhaps an update as it's still for sale? I'm not going to return this and I doubt I shall attempt to connect it either based on the customer experience of the software issues. My fault, read everything. An update, and I'm re rating it down to 1 star because there isn't a no stars score. I connected this to my pc and downloaded the drivers for win 10. The software installation couldn't find the hardware even though the computer recognised it and showed that a signal was being sent to the unit. Multiple attempts later, the entire music directory of mp3 and FLAC files on my pc can't be opened. On to utube so to check there. I have my headphones connected to the headphone socket (usb to computer) and, nothing. Just to have a go, I put the headphone socket into the 2.1 surround socket and hey presto, sound. Appalling sound and super loud with all the attenuation using the onboard vol controls, between 1 and 3, after that full volume all the way. This is irrelevant anyway because the 3.5mm jack sockets are so cheap that the plug wouldn't stay in. I uninstalled and repeated the process several times, always with the same results until the last time when I couldn't access any audio from the pc at all using the existing outboard amp (actually, the files couldn't be opened). It's fixed now after an hour of reinstalling audio and other drivers. What a complete and utter piece of sh......

I brought these to replace my on board audio built into my pcs motherboard, when I brought these I wasn't expecting much for the price they are but when I plugged in the external soundcard and tested them out on my m-audio BX4 they sounded pretty good. compared to how they used to sound on my motherboards built in audio the bass isn't as pronounced but its still present. Overall for its price there a decent choice for a soundcard on a tight budget

Bought this adapter to add sound capabilities to a HP MicroServer. Have bought StarTech products in the past, and have never been disappointed. This product upholds my opinion that they produce quality kit at reasonable prices. Sure, you can buy cheaper USB audio adapters, but I tried several, and they just weren't reliable. You might be paying a bit extra, but you can see where the extra money goes. For example, this unit comes with a short USB extender cable, so you haven't got to worry about knocking the adapter and snapping it off when plugged into the computer. The whole process was just plug and play, as Windows 7 has suitable drivers built in. If you want a quick and easy way to add audio to a PC, then look no further.