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

I bought this to provide an optical output to an external amplifier, having wasted ages trying to get my good quality but old card to run on Win10. I was unsure about this card, having never heard of Star Tech and having seen mixed reviews. However I was put off cheaper SoundBlaster and ASUS cards having read about compatibility issues.This card was a doddle: unpack, plug in switch on...and it works! It provided me with S/PDIF output without needing any drivers, so I've not had to mess about with software.I've not tested (or even fitted) the analogue outputs so cannot vouch for the quality of those.

REVISED - Original review remains below, but have since discovered very low volume but constant static, noticable during quiet passages of music, movies, everything. Testing with audio recording software recording from stereo mix (AKA what you hear on some cards I've had before) confirms it's not my imagination, the hum can be seen on a waveform. Not experienced this with my old card at all, and no other components have been changed, which points to this card. Also no front panel audio is recognised by it (confirmed header is plugged in correctly). Also found that the card shows up in device manager as a C-Media 8828, and is presumably using a generic but compatible Win10 audio card driver (dated 2012). C-Medias website states that this card is not supported on Win10, and to contact your vendor for customised drivers. So despite it being seemingly more reliable than my trusty Audigy with Win10, sound quality and support are questionable. Not sure whether I'll be keeping this or not...Few things have gone smoothly since moving to Win10 (out of necessity, not choice!), most annoying of all was the Russian roulette of Win10 either seeing my Soundblaster Audigy X-fi sound card, or as was often the case, reporting that there was no sound card installed, which would then require anything up to five reboots before it agreed that I had a sound card after all (no problem with the card, transplanted form my old Win7 rig, and back into it for testing to confirm no problem with it!). And sometimes just for fun, Win10 would insist that it knew better than me, DL'd and replaced the driver for my Audigy, and then reported that my sound card didn't work.Why didn't I replace this admittedly aging sound card sooner, you ask? Because I needed SPDIF input, and seemingly very few cards have these nowadays. In my case it's because I have a PS4 in my home office which feeds visuals to the monitor via HDMI, and I'm currently using the optical out from it into my PC via this card (and the Audigy before it), to make use of the 5.1 speakers I run my PC through.Happy to report that it works brilliantly. Even the argumentative beast that is Win10 saw it first time, installed no drivers for it, it just worked. DL'd the control panel software for it from StarTech, bit basic but does enough. Couple of minutes configuring to my own personal preferences, and job done. All audio editing software on my PC gets along fine with it, and to my ear (audiophiles with insanely expensive systems may tell a different story though) sounds great. Least hassle change I've made to this PC since running Win10.If I had to find fault, I would say that the smaller 'child' board with the speaker outputs wobbles around a little when inserting / disconnecting plugs, as it's not connected to the mobo or anything other than the single case screw holding the back panel in place in your case. But I can live with that. Really happy I took a chance on this.

Easy fit sound quality not quite so good but reasonable. accompanying software a pain could be far easier to setup.

Selecting 192khz play back in windows it cuts in and out constantly. I do not recommend this sound card if you want a high sample rate.Select a lower sample rate and its OK but i did't pay for 88.2 khz i wanted 192.khz. Play back. In linux it is total rubbish the play back is totally unbearable and you can't change the rate because its not supported.Keep clear of this product. The sound blaster for £30 beats this hands down