StarTech 7.1 USB Audio Adapter, External Sound Card (ICUSBAUDIO7D)

I have Linux Mint operating system (OS), just plugged the sound card in, no drivers, it works flawlessly. It is compatible with Ubuntu OS I heard. I was thinking no way the sound quality would be great for a cheap sound card, however the sound is fantastic. Value for money, this is where I got much, much more quality than I expected. I only used the regular desktop speakers, no more, I don't need 7.1 for web browsing. The box is the size of a deck of cards. I didn't use the software disc since my desktop doesn't have a CD/DVD drive. My integrated desktop computer sound card was partially damaged during a lighting storm , I only had sound coming from the right speaker, that is why I got this USB sound card. Now both speakers have sound.

TL;DR - Works great for a PC that does not have 5.1 output or laptop going to analog speakers, just make sure of use case. I ended up returning this item because it worked great but was impracticable given limitations of streaming services. I have a "nice older" computer 5.1 speaker system I got long ago and it still sounds great, but I wanted to use it with "TV" as that is where the stereo to surround makes more difference to me. I had tried a number of permutations and machinations before to get 3 x 3.5mm plug based (analog) speakers to do surround without success. The worked fine connected to a PC with the proper output plugs on main board just nothing worked with any of the "TV" output option that supposedly bridged the digital to analog. So connected it to my "small infotainment" PC as an external sound card, got latest software, and after install, I ran the suite of tests and confirmed everything was setup and working. Then I loaded various streaming services and did not get the expected results. Played some owned content with surround and again everything worked. After some digging I determined that most streaming service titles that state the provide surround do so only in app on streaming devices while same app on PC will not. I assume some anti-piracy or other restrictive reason to limit the ability to enjoy the content more, Device is great for a specific use cases, just not mine.

This device was working fine for about 2 months on a Windows 11 machine and then quit. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling in Device Manager and updating drivers, etc. The thing that fixed it was a powered USB hub, which is odd because it was the same USB port I had been using previously without issue. The price is right, and it functions well, but you might need a powered USB hub to go with it.

I bought this because my new motherboard doesn't have optical SPDIF outputs; only analog and my A/V receiver only has HDMI and optical SPDIF inputs for audio. I thought from the page describing the item that I could connect this device by USB, install a device driver and get 5.1- or 7.1-channel audio from my updated PC to my A/V receiver. That is NOT the case. You can only get 2.0-channel audio with this configuration. This was confirmed in a chat session with their support team. I'm not sure how it can function as a "7.1 USB Audio Adapter" so I sent it back. Maybe you are smarter than me and the support team and can get it to work that way or maybe you only need 2.0-channel audio. If so, enjoy!

Works great with my new Dell PC running Windows 11. My old internal Creative Sound Blaster audio card didn’t work w my new pc. This one works well and I can also use it with a laptop if needed. Glad I didnt buy an internal sound card which would have cost 3 times as much. Sounds great w my 5:1 spkr system. Good price too.

With a new Dell XPS computer that lacks a Line-In jack, I have been looking for an effective way to add this function. This looked like a winner, with the Line-In as well as two microphone jacks on the side panel for right and left channel. I was hopeful that it would be the solution to my problem., Ordered from Amazon and received promptly. But when I plugged it in, there was a base hum on the microphone inputs, more on the left than the right. And the Line-In did not work at all. Contacted Amazon, the they promptly send a replacement. Plugged in the replacement, the Line-In does appear to work perfectly. But there is still a low level sound on the microphone input. And the left microphone input seems to be a bit distorted compared to the right. One other problem, with my previous computer, using the sound card, while recording with the Line-In I could monitor the recording through the speakers. With this box, whether using the internal sound card or the box's speaker output, there is no sound from the speakers while recording. Makes editing and producing difficult. Sum total is that the replacement box may be performing as well as it can, but that is still not satisfactory. I likely will return it and opt for an internal sound card.

I have a home theater in which I have a media center computer; this uses a GNU/Linux operating system (Xubuntu). Its default sound is good (it has a TosLink output) but I wanted something better, to wit, USB sound output. (This review will be of most interest to those who also use Linux.) I received this StarTech.com 7.1 USB Audio Adapter External Sound Card with SPDIF Digital Audio Sound Cards ICUSBAUDIO7D yesterday and I now have it set up. Frankly, it is not quite as easy to use as one might think; this has nothing to do with the product itself which is nothing short of superb. Rather the difficulties are due to the nature of your computer and just how knowledgeable you are about changing parameters. The default in almost all computers is for the sound to be routed through the computer's internal sound card to the line or headphone output jack. These are analog jacks. The quality of the computer's sound card determines the quality of the sound you will hear. Unfortunately, most internal computer sound cards are mediocre. Of course there are some which are superlative but these are few and far between (not even to mention very expensive). This little inexpensive device allows complete bypassing of the computer's sound card in favor of your amplifier or receiver. If you have a high quality one, it and it alone will determine the quality of the sound you hear (of course this also depends upon the quality of that to which you are listening!). As stated, I use a GNU/Linux operating system on my media center computer located in my home theater (it is a ZaReason MediaBox 5330 model with the Intel i5 processor and 16 GB RAM). Hooking this device to a computer is very easy. You merely take the included USB cable, plug one end into your computer, and the other end into this device. Then you connect one end of a Toslink cable to the S/PDIF output on the back of this sound card and you plug the other end into the appropriate Toslink connection point on your amplifier/receiver. Will you then immediately hear digital sound? No. First you must go into your sound settings section and change the settings from the default analog to the appropriate USB digital setting. After you do this, will you then hear digital sound? Again, no. You must go into the sound settings section of the programs you use to play media. In my case, I use three: VLC Media Player, SM Player, and Audacious. Each of these has its own settings menu (in VLC's case, you'll want to use the advanced menu rather than the simple one). Once all of THOSE are set properly, will you THEN hear digital sound? You bet!!! And it's just great. The sound in my theater, whether playing music (FLAC files) via Audacious, or movies (videos), especially ones with "surround" tracks, through VLC or SM Player, is so much better than the analog (surround) sound I previously used as to make such a comparison meaningless. There is no comparison! My wife can easily hear the difference and I would guess that almost ANYONE would hear the difference. DTS (regular or lossless)? Not a problem. Dolby Digital (regular or lossless)? Not a problem. 7.1 output? Again, not a problem. Just a pleasure! Why would I need a device such as this? It is because my receiver, a Yamaha RX-Z9, was made just before the introduction of HDMI connections. If you have a receiver AND a computer with modern HDMI connections, you don't need this. One HDMI cable will carry picture as well as audio. But if you want digital sound output from your computer, with all of its advantages, and your computer does not have an HDMI output, and/or you have a receiver which does not have HDMI but DOES have digital audio connections, then this is your device. And, at 33 bucks or so, it won't break the bank! It also has analog outputs which carry up to 5.1 analog channels if your receiver has those inputs. Naturally it will also output straight stereo. It even has a headphone jack as well as an analog line input jack. It's quite a versatile instrument! By the way, the changes in audio configurations I mention above apply to ALL computers regardless of the operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.). It may be a bit trickier to use with a Windows computer (a CD with the necessary drivers for Windows is included; no special setup is required for Mac or Linux) but it still shouldn't be too difficult for fairly knowledgeable people. Its specifications claim it supports 16-bit 44.1/48 kHz sound output. But I can tell you that playing a 24-bit 48 kHz sound file sounds tremendous. I played a "record" downloaded from a company called Pristine Classical. It has several pieces within it: all of the experimental stereo recordings made by Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony, recorded in 1954. I chose to buy the 24-bit 48 kHz FLAC file and I played it through this device just this morning. I need not say any more than that it sounded as if it had been recorded yesterday! For all practical purposes, no one need worry about any "limitations" in this unit's specifications. Just please take my advice: if you are comfortable about changing parameters within a computer, or, if you know someone who is, or even if you are willing to spend money to hire someone who can install this properly, then by all means buy this item if you have need for such a device. If you are not comfortable, for any reason, then merely use the default sound settings of your computer. Frankly, they are adequate for many people. But I truly am extremely happy I bought this StarTech device. (It is not the first item I have bought from this company; in my experience, their products are first-class in every way.) I give it my highest recommendation for anyone who has need for it. Thank you very much for reading this. Lawrence H. Bulk

Device as expected and was extremely reasonable priced. The programs and drivers seem old and the UI looks like its from win95. It isn't necessary for use and can just be a generic usb 2.0 device configured thru windows. It takes a min to configure in win11 but does produce 5.1 surround. Isn't just plug and play, you have to configure it in windows and windows doesn't seem to want to allow you to the menu necessary (No fault of device). I couldn't find the location of the configs in basics system settings menus. WHERE YOU HAVE TO GO TO CONFIGURE: 1-"Open Sound Settings: Type mmsys.cpl into the Windows search bar and press Enter to open the classic Sound control panel.". 2-click on device. 3-configure. Device is great for my use. Computer->EKL Switch->This Device - to transfer my surround between 2 computers using a Logitech 5.1 THX surround. From a gaming standpoint, this functions great and I don't notice a difference between direct motherboard and device sound output. Device shows as DVD quality output.

It just works! Before buying this I extracted the 7.1 channel audio from HDMI signal. I needed to use a dummy screen and it caused numerous headaches under Win11 as you can imagine. I was considering buying the Sound Blaster X4, but all the reported problems were giving me pause. I decided to give this thing a chance due to the price and that was a great decision. It just works. No hassle, no problems. Just remember to use the old audio settings console in windows (mmsys.cpl)

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.

Köpte två stycken för ett halvår (jan 26) sen och båda har rullat på helt felfritt, så de jag har räcker gott och väl. Sjukt stabil kvalitet. Synd bara att den är slut i lager just nu. Hoppas säljaren tar in den igen, för det är verkligen bara att slå till om man funderar. Jag kommer definitivt hålla koll på det här märket framöver.

Mi serviva una scheda audio, stabile, per pilotare almeno 3/4 canali audio separati di output, per un impianto da 6/8 bass shaker; Lo fa, ed anche bene; - i segnali sono puliti, molto più potenti della scheda audio Realtek; - altre schede audio esterne hanno ceduto dopo 1-2 giorni di utilizzo, ed è stato un tribulare tra resi e rimborsi per via del tempo perso; - Invece questa scheda audio, leggermente più costosa, è stabile, sta facendo il suo dovere, precisa e potente; -Ottima come sostituta di una scheda audio interna; è plug & play 7.1; io l'ho connessa ad una Usb 3cavi tutti inclusi nella confezione, insieme al cd di installazione; -Importante: ricordatevi di disabilitare l'audio Realtek di Windows 10; altrimenti questa scheda, non può prendere il controllo totale dell'audio del vostro Pc, ed è quello che vi serve per poter accedere a tutti i canali; - Forse esteticamente non è il massimo e sembra plasticosa; anzi a dire il vero è bruttina, (mi ricorda Blender di futurama) ma se funziona e anche bene, non mi importa dell' estetica; anzi mi sono affezionato; - Vale tutti i soldi che costa; meno di 60 euro; Dopo un mese di utilizzo, funziona, sembra instancabile; Non scalda in nessun modo; in pieno esercizio lavora a temperatura ambiente; Vedremo quanto dura; Per ora un prodotto serio, e funzionale; Dopo 1 anno continua a pilotare i bass shaker della mia postazione con efficienza, Consiglio vivamente Saluti Rio

PS4で使ってます。 音は確かにデカくなりますが、高音よりな上がり方します。 中低音が上がってほしいとは思いました。 仕様なのかどうかは分かりませんが、 ヘッドホンのとこに刺しても音は出ませんでした。 2.1のとこに刺したら出ます。 PCで使うと充分使えるんだろうと思います。