External sound card usb 7.1 install#
External sound card usb 7.1 drivers#
External sound card usb 7.1 professional#

ThatвЂ™s annoying for those that wanted to hook up a digital system with analogue inputs. The S/PDIF system is merely a passthrough you canвЂ™t generate an S/PDIF output without an S/PDIF input first. The sound card does have another annoying limitation.

External sound card usb 7.1 install#

You can do this at the speaker level, or you can install another program in Windows to adjust the EQ, but it would have been nice to have some simple software included on the driver CD. ThereвЂ™s no software provided with the sound card, so youвЂ™re given no way to adjust the bass, treble, etc.

External sound card usb 7.1 professional#

I had no issues using the microphone input for chatting to my mates when gaming, but I might look for an alternative for professional recordings. The microphone inputs are sensible enough, although I feel the quality isnвЂ™t as clear as it could be. The only better implementation would be a switch on the sound card that lets you toggle which output is used, so I donвЂ™t have to keep turning my speakers on and off each time. Here, itвЂ™s just a case of putting the headphones on your head and turning off the speakers, and youвЂ™re away. I spent my life unplugging and re-plugging my headphones with the Creative T50s, which definitely got wearisome after a while. IвЂ™m a big fan of the headphone output, which allows me to switch between headphones (for competitive gaming) and speakers (for music and videos) without plugging or unplugging anything. Once you set the USB sound card to be your default audio device, everything just works.

External sound card usb 7.1 drivers#

Plug the provided USB cable into your PC, connect up your headset and speakers, and wait for the drivers to install (a CD is provided). The 7.1 USB Sound Card provides a good initial impression, with its plasticky frame providing all of the ports you could need in a logical arrangement. After tucking it under my monitor, I didnвЂ™t notice it too often.

The silver colour is inoffensive, and thankfully the LEDs are too. It does well sitting on a desk, but pulling it out on the train might be a bit of a hassle. ItвЂ™s a fairly compact piece of kit, although it is larger than simpler USB sound cards that have just one or two 3.5mm ports. The buttons allow for adjusting the volume (up, down, mute) and muting the microphone. The first light flashes (dimly and slowly) while audio input is detected, while the second activates when the microphone is muted. On the top of the unit, we have some indicator lights and buttons. We also have the S/PDIF passthrough interface, comprising of one S/PDIF out and one S/PDIF in. On the back, we have the USB input (the square connector often used in printers). If youвЂ™re just using a single 3.5mm input, you just use the left channel. On the left side, we have a pair of microphone inputs, one each for the left and right channels. The remaining four allow for connection of an analogue 7.1 system if you have a 2.1 or 5.1 system then of course youвЂ™ll use a subset of these.

The first is a headphone output and the second is a line-in port. On the front, we have the bulk of the connections: six 3.5mm ports. LetвЂ™s take a look at the ports provided by the sound card. See the Startech USB Sound Card on Amazon While the limited S/PDIF interface is unfortunate, there are no other issues to preclude us from recommending this USB sound card. Installation takes seconds, comprising of little more than plugging everything in and waiting for the drivers to install, then setting a new default input / output device in Windows.

вЂ™s USB sound card does exactly what it says on the tin, providing a strong range of inputs and outputs in a relatively small package.

This one is a good-sized unit, offering a range of analogue and digital ports including analogue 7.1 surround sound, dual-mic recording and an S/PDIF passthrough. USB sound cards are ideal as replacements for broken on-board sound cards, particularly on laptops or small factor systems where installing a PCI or PCI-e sound card isnвЂ™t a viable option. Today weвЂ™re looking at a 7.1 USB sound card from.