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.
Connectivity
The Xtreme Sound 7.1
features 4 Line outputs, Line In, Mic In, Optical S/PDIF-Out,
and Optical S/PDIF-In on the soundcard’s bracket, which
makes it extremely capable on the connectivity front.
As noted in our
Creative X-Fi review essentially every non-Creative 7.1
soundcard uses 4 Line outputs. The use of Optical S/PDIF
output will no doubt please many on the quality front (from
a budget soundcard), while the Optical S/PDIF Input puts a
cherry on top. Internally Aux In and CD In are available,
not that the majority of people should care.
Over the course of
the review the Xtreme Sound 7.1 was connected to several
different output devices including the Panasonic SA-PM 19
Stereo, Creative Labs Inspire 6.1 6700, and Sennheiser
HD-595 Headphones.
Out of the box
Documentation came in
the form of a printed Quick Start guide for basic
installation tips, with everything else needed on the
drivers CD. Installation went smoothly with no hardware or
software issues to speak about - I did encounter one during
the X-Fi’s installation as a comparison.
Software and Drivers
Besides Drivers, the
Xtreme Sound 7.1 “Bonus Software” included
Acrobat Reader
which is entirely forgettable, while WCPUID seems like an
odd choice for a soundcard bundle.
Audacity however
is a “free, open source software for recording and
editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft
Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems”.
An Open Source
application bundled with a soundcard? That is a first for me
and I have reviewed many soundcards. Of some interest
though, I’m unable find any mention on the Audacity
website/forums of this bundling. You can always
download it free
even if you don’t buy the Xtreme Sound 7.1 – or want to try
a newer build. Regardless of whether this is of use or not
it’s nice to see Open Source software getting some exposure
instead of another throw-away proprietary software
inclusion.
