My Big Fat Review
DIAMOND XtremeSound XS71DDL
I've been looking forward to upgrading my sound card for awhile. Especially having the s/pdif optical out and the ability to actually hear the surround sound on files with AC3 (Dolby Surround). I had an easy install, with no conflicts, which is a big deal since my media pc is a modded Dell Optiplex GX260 mobo crammed into an old Vtech Case. After the install, with the drivers supplied on CD, everything was working, except I was unable to get 5.1 output or DDL. I was only able to get PCM 2.0 through the s/pidf out and analog out; simultaneously which is nice (this dual out setup is not possible with the correct 5.1 setup). There are updated drivers on the Diamond website (http://www.diamondmm.com/XS71DDL.php). I opted insted to use C-Media's drivers for the CMI8768+ chip that's onboard the XS71DDL (http://www.cmedia.com.tw/?q=en/cm_drivers). This worked like a charm for the DDL and getting 5.1 pass through. There are also open source drivers from Google code (http://code.google.com/p/cmediadrivers/) which worked great, except I was unable to get the included control panel to work. I highly recommend the open source if they work for you, they give you a lot more control.
With functioning drivers in place I was finally able to play a movie with AC3 through my computer and out to my receiver and get the full 5.1 effect. The sound was crystal clear and I could definatley tell the difference in the surround sound effects, being able to hear background noises that were missing or muted before with 2.0. I had to use PowerDVD to get the pass through to work insted of VLC which is what I normally use for video files, but I think this was due to my own ignorance in the VLC setup for sound. The DDL also does an amazing job of giving you the effect of surround sound with ordinary 2.0 video files and mp3's. I have not tried the card with any games since this is a media pc. From what I've read I'd only run this with games if you have a something like an X-Fi running in tandem with Velbac as a bridge (http://www.driverheaven.net/audio-general-technical-discussion/132412-velbac-sends-audio-creative-soundcard-another-soundcard.html) or (http://pages.globetrotter.net/samaust/Files/Tril-Velbac.html).
The only other issue I had come up with this card, was getting a wave out. I am unable to find an internal siganal at all to able to record what I'm playing. More importantly I'm unable to get a singnal to my IMON Ultra Bay/Frontview Equilzer. Which is a real bummer. With PCM 2.0 I was able to get this to function, but the 5.1 I get nothing. Even in the control panel for the video card there is no record signal on the mixer. I've not found anything yet saying an internal signal is impossible with s/pdif out. If I find a solution this I will post an update. I would definatly recommend this card for a media pc setup, just be sure to use updated drivers when you do the install.
