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

I have a periodic need to record from an analog stereo source (line/headphone jack). Most (nearly all) new laptops lack a stereo mic/line input so a passive adapter wouldn't work. This device provides the connectivity I needed and works great with audacity in Windows. I have not tried it with Linux, but the advertised Linux compatibility was a factor in choosing this particular device as I will be migrating in a year or so. The star tech brand was a factor too. I've had good experiences with many of their devices over the years. I am very happy with the audio quality that I'm getting on my recordings, and have no intention of using the outputs, but you never know what you'll need to hook up in the future and this device seems to have some staying power support-wise and I've had good luck with Star tech equipment and adapters in the past (but they will eventually drop support because they are a business not a charity). I've had this about a year now and expect it to last and continue to function well.

I bought an HP EliteBook 755 G5 with a docking station and wanted to connect it to my existing Logitech 5.1 analog speakers. These speakers have three 3.5mm stereo jacks: Front speakers (green), Rear speakers (black), and Center/Subwoofer (orange). The laptop contains two built-in sound cards. One is only capable of 2.0 stereo and works through the 3.5" audio jacks. The other built-in sound card works only through the DisplayPort connection. For example, if you connect the laptop to a TV with audio capability or to an A/V receiver, that sound card handles that audio output. Since I have a monitor with no audio jacks or processing, I cannot take advantage of that built-in device. (There is another kind of product that could. I’ll talk about it at the end of this review.) I chose StarTech because I had luck with their products in the past. This external sound card is more expensive than the cheap Chinese ones on eBay and it supports 7.1 as well as 5.1. I did NOT have to use the driver CD. I have Windows 10 1809 and it recognized the card immediately. It shows up in the Device Manager as “USB Sound Device.” Don’t be alarmed if you check the properties and see a message under the “Events” tab claiming "Device requires further installation." If you look at the list, you will see that even though the entry in the list of Events might be the top one, the Timestamp is older than the entries below. This means that this message is normal and has no significant meaning at all, even though it can be confusing and previous Windows versions did not show something similar. Configuring the sound card for 5.1 (or 7.1) audio is simple. Go to the Control Panel and select Sound. Under the Playback tab, click on the “Speakers” for the USB Sound Device and click on the Configure button. Choose 5.1 and click the Test button to make sure everything is connected properly. Click Next. Make sure all optional speakers are selected. Click Next. If you have a satellite speaker system with a subwoofer like me, you do NOT have full-range speakers. You can verify this by plugging in the green plug into a 2.0 stereo source and listen to the sound quality. If it’s sorely missing bass, then they are NOT full-range speakers. Uncheck these options. (BTW, sometimes the front speakers are full-range, but the rear speakers are not. If the rear speakers are smaller than the fronts, uncheck the rear speakers only.) Click Finish. Another option I could have tried would have been to use a device that converts the digital audio supplied over HDMI to analog. Amazon sells such a device: SKSL HDMI Digital Audio Converter. However, I would have needed to buy a DisplayPort to HDMI cable. Also, I would have to get RCA to 3.5mm adapters, too. And, that option costs a lot more. UPDATE 2019-05-15: Just wanted to say the sound quality has been superb!

Overall, a good device. It has all the right inputs/outputs. Worked out of the box with Windows 10 (don't bother with the old drivers on disk or at the web site). It works well with my powered analog 5.1 speakers. It only lost a star because its volume range is very limited. If I adjust my volume control at the speakers to get the 100% windows volume level loud enough, then the 1% windows volume level is too loud. On the other hand, if I adjust the volume control at the speakers so that the 1% windows volume level is quiet enough, then the 100% windows volume level isn't loud enough. The windows volume level stops getting louder at about 30%, which seems to be a limitation of the device since it is USB bus powered and probably just uses the on-chip amp, which can only put out so much. If the device could put out a wider range of volume levels, then maybe the 1% volume level would be quiet enough *and* the 100% volume level would be loud enough. It's only a minor annoyance that I occasionally have to fiddle with the volume knob on my speakers.

Cette carte audio externe est pile ce que je recherchais. Le pris est correct (des cartes similaires chez Creative coûtent plus de 100 euros en moyenne). Le bouton sur le boîtier est un plus, même si je ne m'en sers pas, ça fait quand même trois possibilités de moduler le son (réglages Windows, le bouton sur les enceintes et ces boutons sur le boîtier). Le son est très bon puisque j'ai un système 5.1. Cela m'a permis de récupérer du son sur un PC où la carte son interne et intégré à la carte mère a lâché. Le produit est arrivé dans les délais annoncés et bien emballé. Ce fut une joie que de retrouver du son sur mon PC.

Really annoying to find out that my sons "gaming-pc" didnt have a pcie card so i could use a real card for 7.1 sound. But fast deliveries from Amazon and i got this thing instead. Connected it and configured the UI to work with 7.1 sound (it could emulate all different modes actually). Works really well for my purpose to use some tactile speakers and distribute the sound to back/center/front

I loved this audio card it worked perfectly. I connected my old pin5.1 speakers to my Alienware pc.

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

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.