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Diamond XtremeSound 7.1 DDL soundcard review @ TechSpot
Diamond Multimedia is a company some of you PC Enthusiast veterans may remember. From my earlier PC owning days, the first add-on graphics card I purchased was a Diamond Monster 3D II 3DFX Voodoo2 8MB. Also way back when this site was called “3D Spotlight” we reviewed some of their most outstanding products like Voodoo and Rendition-based graphics cards, the Diamond Rio 500, and the Monster Sound soundcards. Since those days they have had a quite an interesting ride. That is no longer important though, the brand is back, and they are giving it another shot with a complete product range.
Today we will be looking at one of their new audio products, the CMI8768+ based, Diamond Xtreme Sound 7.1 DDL (Dolby Digital Live) PCI soundcard. Featuring real-time Dolby Digital encoding, 24-bit/96kHz playback, 8-channel analog output, and a relatively low price tag, it’s a compelling product for sure.
Read the complete review here.
Today we will be looking at one of their new audio products, the CMI8768+ based, Diamond Xtreme Sound 7.1 DDL (Dolby Digital Live) PCI soundcard. Featuring real-time Dolby Digital encoding, 24-bit/96kHz playback, 8-channel analog output, and a relatively low price tag, it’s a compelling product for sure.
Read the complete review here.
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User Comments (13)
Post a comment| seanp789 on April 28, 2006 6:26 AM | While its nice to see DDL encoding in cards, I'm sorely
disappointed that they don't attempt to compete more against
creative from a gaming aspect. Some real competition would
drive down the prices of the X-Fi models.
|
| DragonMaster on April 28, 2006 10:36 AM | When I'll see a sound card with both DirectSound hardware
support and 24/96 recording that is NOT a Creative, I'll
stop being disappointed by every of them. Why not Creative?
Drivers and sound quality are a problem.
|
| barfarf on April 28, 2006 10:54 AM | ahhh the days of 3d spotlight and first rio. You know you
got to hand it too Diamond they the first one to mass
produces mps players with the RIO. THe RIAA was so scared
of mp3 players and napster was so popular it would be the
down fall of cd sales. THey tried suing dimaond into not
making mp3 player. In fact making it ilegal to for anyone
to make an mp3 player.
|
| Mictlantecuhtli on April 28, 2006 11:54 AM | Originally posted by DragonMaster: When
I'll see a sound card with both DirectSound hardware support
and 24/96 recording that is NOT a Creative, I'll stop being
disappointed by every of them. The chip on this card
can do that. I have a soundcard with the same sound chip
(HDA / Auzentech X-Mystique 7.1), if I had a daughterboard
for it I'd be able to record via
S/PDIF.Features: # Supports 44.1kHz / 48kHz / 96kHz S/PDIF Input with HDA X-10 Digital Input extension board (Optional)[Digital I/O (SPDIF-IN #2)] Specifications (System Interface): Since both cards use
the same driver(s) and utilities, I don't see why Diamond's
card wouldn't be able to do the same.
# DirectSound 3D HW acceleration
|
| Julio on April 28, 2006 12:30 PM | Yes, I believe it does, at least from the specs sheet.
Thomas was the one doing the actual review. As for better and more competition on the gaming front. It's not that easy, especially since Aureal and Sensaura ceased to exist (and you know why). The fact that these companies are no longer around, means more upfront cost and time to develop a proper solution that will compete with Creative products, which BTW also have EAX on their favor. I'm not saying it's not possible, just that it would be hard from a financial perspective.
|
| DragonMaster on April 28, 2006 2:45 PM | The chip on this card can do that. I have a soundcard
with the same sound chip (HDA / Auzentech X-Mystique 7.1),
if I had a daughterboard for it I'd be able to record via
S/PDIF. What about analog recording? Creative doesn't
use good sounding DACs, ADCs and analog stages, and the
M-Audio has no DirectSound hardware support.Or I could build my ADC but I'd prefer an I2S input in instead of a SPDIF one.
|
| ThomasNews on April 30, 2006 12:23 PM | I think I mentioned in the review that *on my system* the
Xtreme Sound 7.1 was clearly not such a great performer for
gamers & 3D Audio/EAX (especially the latter) would also be
well behind Creative Soundcards. Regardless of how you feel
about Creative Drivers they remain the best Soundcards for
gaming regardless; regardless of how slanted that market is
(EAX 3+ being proprietary for example, & the lack of
competing setups thanks to the demise of Sensaura &
previously Aureal). Not that others won't suffice, you'll just be missing out in many instances.
|
| eddiep on June 1, 2006 7:09 AM | I just got this card ,and i'm having a problem getting it to
do one thing. They tell me at Diamond that I can connect my
DVD player to the card via the S/PDIF in and play out to the
Speakers connected to the anolog . I followed their instr.
but can't get it to work. Tom , I noted in your review you
didn't deal with the S/PDIF in did you test this at all.
Anyone doing this.
|
| DragonMaster on June 1, 2006 5:56 PM | Probably a checkbox somewhere. Have you tried to set the
SPDIF in as the record source? Are you sure that the polarity of the digital output is OK? (Try reversing the plug on your DVD-ROM) Also, it's not the CD Audio sound input anymore that you're using in the mixer.
|
| eddiep on June 2, 2006 1:10 PM | DragonMaster, Thanks a million for your response. I hope I
don't sound too much like a dope, please bear with me, I am
a real novice at this. First, you are exactly right, it is
a checkbox, which I have checked and rechecked, with no
avail. Second, when you say set SPDIF in as the record
source, do you mean in the software,(ie, the checkbox) that
comes with the soundcard, or somewhere else in the computer?
Third, as far as the polarity, this is a little over my
head, but let me make this clear, if I put a movie, or a cd
in the CD-RW/DVD drive the card works fine. (the speakers
connected to the analog side play very well) It's when I
connect an outside source (ie. DVD player, HD cable set top
box,etc) to the SPDIF in that I get no sound. Given this,
do you still think I should reverse the plug on the DVD-ROM,
if so I will give it a try. As to your last point about the
CD Audio Sound and the mixer, I don't understand. Please
elaborate. Finally, back to the checkbox. It seems like
there is a conflict between the SPDIF in and some other
audio source controlling the speakers. Any ideas on what
the SPDIF in is competing with? Thanks again.
|
| claudioperez@be on June 24, 2006 3:31 AM | I had the same problem I have no idea how to fix it and Im
at the end of my my rope trying to find a way to hear
surround sound thru my computer speakers from my PS2 with a
fiber optic cable.
|
| freakwillsin on July 20, 2006 9:39 AM | I've had the same problem recording from the optical in and
the following beta driver from C-Media (the chip
manufacturer) fixed my issue.
http://www.aaf.telesfor.net/files/setup.exe< br/> You can also see this link on C-Media's forum. http://www.cmedia.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t =190 If you are looking for new drivers in the future on c-media's site the one that works for this card is CMI8768/CMI8768+ even though the number on the chip is CMI8760 if i remember correctly.
|
| Ross Feickert on September 22, 2006 12:16 AM | I tried the above fix and it didn't seem to make a
difference. The optical input still isn't working. Any
other suggestions?
|
