Customer reviews from startech.com
StarTech.com - ICUSBAUDIO7D 7.1 Channels 16-bit 48KHz USB Interface Audio Adapter External Sound Card
Average customer rating
3.7
(41 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 41 reviews
5 Stars
22
4 Stars
4
3 Stars
4
2 Stars
4
1 Star
7
Customer Reviews for StarTech.com - ICUSBAUDIO7D 7.1 Channels 16-bit 48KHz USB Interface Audio Adapter External Sound Card
Customer Rating
5
Raspberry Pi
on April 23, 2018
Posted by: asranetuk
My mate bought this for his windows system and I had my raspberry pi with me... Plugged it in and it worked without installing additional drivers... It doesn't say in the manual anything about Raspbian OS so thought I would let everyone know it worked...
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
3
Average product with hidden limitations
on November 21, 2018
Posted by: PhilsComputerLab
I purchased this unit because I use a Small Form Factor PC with limited upgrade options. On the photos I could see it has a lot of connections. I wasn't interested in the 7.1 features, but more for recording purposes, especially the optical input.
The C-Media Audio chip in this device is quite basic, limited to 16 Bit and 48 KHz. So it won't do 24 Bit or 96 KHz or any of that.
The specifications and manual mention that the S/PDIF optical input is only pass-through, yet it shows up as an input in Windows 10 and you can record just fine with software such as Audacity.
The specifications mention dual microphone inputs. Yes there are 2 ports, and you would assume that you can connect two microphones, but this is not the case. Windows audio properties show only a single microphone input. The way this USB audio device is setup is that the left mic port is for the left channel, and the right port for the right channel. Rather than have a single mic port that does Stereo. Very strange and means if you have standard Stereo Mic you need to get a Y-cable.
Finally the device has optical-in, line-in and mic-in. On a standard sound card you can use all the inputs simultaneously. For example receiving music from the line-in, while doing a voice over through the microphone. But this device only supports on of these at a time! So it's either optical in, either line-in or either mic in. But you cannot use two or three inputs at the same time. I'm amazed at this limitation and that this is not mentioned.
The driver seems to be quite old and mixer has just two sliders for volume and CD, which makes no sense. There are no sliders for the other ports. The software and driver doesn't seem to add much compared to the built-in functions that Windows 10 provides.
On the positive side the build quality seems solid. The buttons on the unit as handy, but most keyboard have the same volume and mute button. The mic mute button though can be very useful.
The power LED blinks all the time which is a bit strange.
All in all the product didn't meet my expectations, especially that you can only use one input source at a time and that this wasn't mentioned anywhere.
Response from startech.comBy Sam, Customer Support, November 27, 2018
Thank you for your review of ICUSBAUDIO7D. We're always looking for ways to improve our products, and we appreciate your detailed feedback. Please remember, if you have any problems with our products, our Technical Advisors are available to help 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. To reach one, go to www.startech.com/support.
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
4
When you get it working it's great!
on December 14, 2020
Posted by: DaveE1
I got this to reuse a 7.1 surround sound system that was collecting dust in my loft. I plugged it in on my Win 10 machine (Version 1909) and it seemed to auto install. Problem is it would only output as "headphones" no options to output in any other way. I then installed the startech drivers from the website, still nothing. After half an hour of troubleshooting I contacted support, long story short you need to install the drivers from the Startech website which will install the app "Cmedia Xear Audio Centre", open the app, right click on the "Headphone" icon, select the second option "headphone settings" then in the top right select the drop down box that says "Headphone" then you can select "speaker" or "SPDIF Out" . once you select "speaker" the "headphone" icon will grey out and "Speakers" will be selected. You can then output in 5.1, 7.1 etc! No mention of this un-intuitive "feature" in the manual but support were great!
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
1
Complete waste of money
on October 16, 2019
Posted by: ripped_off_by_startech
I have never been able to get anything other that 16 bit 2 channel audio out of this useless device. Installing the latest drivers from startech is a waste of time as the drivers are from 2012.
Response from startech.comBy Matt, Customer Support, October 18, 2019
Thank you for your feedback. We understand your disappointment in the performance of our ICUSBAUDIO7D and we would like to help you troubleshoot. The drivers available for this adapter include software and to achieve surround-sound you need to change the setting both in Windows and the provided software. If you require assistance getting this setup, our Technical Advisors are available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week to provide support. You can contact us at www.startech.com/support.
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
5
Just need to know what your doing! Works Great
on March 12, 2020
Posted by: colburnk
I have a Surface Pro Book and I have two docking stations, one for my car and one for my office. I have the Logitech 5.1 surround system and I bought this switch to utilize this system. This thing was fairly straight forward to hook up. I have the best surround sound I have ever had including my full desktop systems with Soundblaster cards. The tech support is awesome so If you cannot figure it out, call them and you will not be disappointed.
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
4
WORKS GOOD BUT NEED UPDATE FOR WINDOWS 10
on June 7, 2020
Posted by: alevi
i bought this item for my pc who doesn't have a very good sound card, this product is the response for that work beautyful but the software for windows 10 is difficult to install or is missing and my sound card it's not working the way should be
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
4
Windows 10 Build 2004 Breaks Aduio
on June 10, 2020
Posted by: chuckit
Great device - however the new 2020 Windows 10 Build 2004 the device stopped working - no audio - uninstall - re-install drivers / usb audio drivers - still no audio - device appears in sound control panel and device manger.
Response from startech.comBy Stacey, Customer Support, June 11, 2020
Hello,
I'm sorry to hear you are having audio issues. We offer free lifetime support with our products so we're reaching out directly to see if we can assist.
I'm sorry to hear you are having audio issues. We offer free lifetime support with our products so we're reaching out directly to see if we can assist.
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
5
Works Perfectly But Easy To Think It Doesn't
on August 22, 2020
Posted by: Anonymous
I've just inherited a new PC which unfortunately has no native support for the 5.1 surround sound set up I had with my previous computer. Received this external sound card today and it's working a treat within 20 minutes.
Connected using the USB provided in the box, tried running the driver install from the provided CD but received an error message as it appears windows 10 drivers aren't on the CD so downloaded the drivers from the startech website instead. Once everything was installed and showing in device manager, I was only getting 2.1 sound, with the front speakers only showing in the Xear Audio Centre. After messing around for 15 minutes thinking that the sound card didn't work, I discovered that you simply have to right click on the speaker in the Audio Centre to change the set up...now works perfectly!
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com