StarTech.com 7.1 Channel Sound Card - PCI Express - 24-bit - 192KHz - SPDIF Digital Optical and 3.5mm Analog Audio (PEXSOUND7CH)

I was looking for an alternative to both Creative Labs (Sound Blaster) and Asus (Xonar) sound cards since having nothing but trouble with both of those brands in Windows 10. So I bought this card, plugged it in, and it worked perfectly in Windows 10 right out-of-the-box! (Windows 10 includes drivers for it.) No more Sound Blaster or Asus Xonar drivers for me, and good riddance!

Ever since I purchased this it has always been a little flaky and the motherboard would not detect it on either PCI slot. Recently it stopped working entirely after having audio pushed through it maybe 10 times over 4 and a half months.Original review:Pros:Sound quality is excellent for the price.Works great at the advertised 24bit/192kHz.By my ear, on par with at least headphone DACs (tested: Micca OriGen+, FiiO Q1, better than DragonFly Red)Cons:If you plan on using this for reference or gaming, an external PCIe adapter is REQUIRED. This card has NO EMI/RFI shielding, and any activity inside your computer case will add noise to analogue input and output. My graphics card sits right next to the sound card and when anything is happening (video decoding, gaming) there is a very audible noise floor. If you have the money you should get a Xonar or Sound Blaster with EMI shielding for another $20-50, it should sound at least the same or better inside a case; if you don't mind DIY, wrapping it in properly grounded EMI paper will also work.

Easy to install, and I now have a soundbar connected by Optical Audio Cord. Excellent sound.

I bought this because a review I read said it was plug and play if you have Win 10. I have Win 10. So I installed it and tested it. And it made my music SLOW. Music and all other sounds, even short windows sounds, play at maybe 2/3 speed. If I played a song on any player, it played slow. If I played a video which had music, it played slow. If I played a video that didn't have any sound, the video would play at normal speed. I went to the Startech site and dutifully downloaded and installed the most current drivers per their recommendation in the manual. Rebooted. It made no difference at all. I am giving this item two stars rather than one simply because the seller is a Prime seller which makes returns so very simple.

Creative did not play well with my upgraded windows 10 machine. This card definitely does. It comes with similar software and is truly plug and play

Ordered this dual S/PDIF sound card so that my PC can function as a pass-thru EQ for home theater.Simply put - it worked!!!Sound quality is acceptable, although my amp is a bit old, so I cannot evaluate the sound fidelity.

There are a lot of options when it comes to sound cards with SPDIF optical output but this is the most affordable option from a well-known brand that has input too. It replaces a failed Sound Blaster card and comes with all the ins and outs it has plus separate line in and microphone jacks.It uses the C-Media CM8828 audio processor which Windows 10 automatically installs the built-in generic HD Audio driver for. A definite improvement compared to the dated and buggy Creative driver required by the old card.

I bought this specifically for the Optical input port. It worked great for 6 months, and then it started being super distorted on that optical input. The whole point of using optical cable is to have good clean digital sound. I tested several input devices and determined that the problem is the sound card input port. It sucks to have to throw out electronics after only 6 months.