USB 2.0 Virtual 7.1 Channel Sound Card Adapter

Pros: Clear and good audio. Works on windows, mac and linux. Powerfull enough for Koss Porta Pro. No drivers needed. Low price.

Cons: Unable to use any adjacent usb ports if you're not using an extension cable, but that is no big deal.

Other: Buy if you need an extra headphone/mic jack!

Pros: - simple, easy to install and use - relatively small, though it can interfere with other USB plugs you may need to use (not a big issue) - you can control volume and mute microphone / speakers by pressing the related buttons. LEDs help to check its status - I makes a good sound (I tested it to musics and videos in my PC speakers and everything was fine)

Cons: This is definitively NOT a 7.1 channel sound card adapter! To make a 7.1 channel sound it would be necessary 4 jack outlets (it only has 2). Maybe you can have 7.1 by using the PC's onboard outlets together with these but I didn't make any test on this. The description says "Include Xear 3D, the 7.1 channel sound simulation software for Windows XP/Vista" but this software wasn't installed (or included), maybe it is just compliant.

Other: Buy it if you need an alternative sound card. Sure, don't expect to have a superb device that makes miracles. It does well what is was designed to do - a simple sound card to make your speakers and microphone work.

Pros: * Simple device, offers mic+headset jacks, volume control, headphone and mic mute buttons * No drivers needed, just plug and play * Great if you need an extra jack or if your built-in is unusable. * Worked on my Win/XT

Cons: * It is not 7.1 audio, I can't understand why they label it as such. But if you just want headphones + mic, it's all you need. * A bit big, may make close-lying USB ports unusable. Can be used with USB extension cord if that's a problem. * Mic can be heard thru headphone, maybe this will create a problem under certain conditions.

Other: * * *

Pros: * easy to use * no drivers needed * plug and play * great price * good sound quality * acceptable build quality

Cons: * build quality is acceptable, but still handle with care * mic an earphone plugs need to be pushed quite hard to go in * mic mute button not so sensitive as the other ones * the green led flashes like a madman when active

Other: Works perfectly with windows 7 Would buy it again

Pros: NO drivers to install as any modern OS will recognize it as a standard usb audio interface. Has CMEDIA chip in it. Perfect for Virtual DJ, Mixmeister, Traktor, and other software DJ software. can take the beating of being thrown inside a gear bag with no protection whatsoever. great STEREO output card. Low noise compared to the cheaper DX's jewel-colored cards.

Cons: not native 7.1, only an effect that depends on different drivers that you must supply yourself. won't fit stacked on the adjacent ports on laptops that arenot spaced part.

Other: you can't go wrong with any of these cards sporting the CMEDIA chipsets.

Pros: - No driver in modern OSs
- Supports Linux (with caveats, see below)
- Cheap!
- Sound quality is quite acceptable, even with relatively good earphones (VSonic GR07, which are near top-tier in-ear earphones)

Cons: - Build quality is meh, don't drop it or dump it at the bottom of the bag. Then again, you could just buy another one...
- At least under Linux, the default sound level is very, very loud on moderately efficient earphones. The lowest you can get (3%--anything below cuts off the sound completely...) is still loud to my ears. Above? Forget about it.
- Probably violates a bunch of EU regulations given the loudness :)

Other: I think it's quite hard to get better for the money. Of course, it's not a USB DAC or an earphone amplifier, but it does the job as well as the Intel HDA soundcards integrated on motherboards, without the hisses from various electronics in the computer.
The chipset on this dongle is listed as "USB-Audio - C-Media USB Headphone Set" by ALSA.
Once you fix the ALSA settings to use softvol, it's an awesome Linux USB sound card.

Pros: Good Build Quality; The buttons volume +/- and mute works perfectly (at least to me); Low/unnoticeable background noise using it at moderate volume; plug and play in win 7, you don´t need to find drives on the web! The red led that indicates when the "mute" function is active is a very useful feature

Cons: could be a little small! nothing else!

Other: great quality and low price. That dongle is quite useful, if you don´t have audio connections in front of your CPU, or if you have other audio output connected to it, like speakers.

Pros: Doesn't require any drivers under Windows XP. Build seems fairly sturdy. Sound quality seems quite good.

Cons: Couldn't get the volume buttons to work. The leds are quite bright and are a bit distracting in a dark room. But a little tape fixes that problem nicely

Other: Seems like a good choice if your computer's sound card is broken.

Pros: Quality: The plastic is good quality, except for the buttons are a bit hard and difficult to use. Use: It worked perfectly in Ubuntu (which surprised me) with just plugging it automatically detects an output device. Also tested with Windows 7 and it worked correctly. All functions of the buttons (mute, volume) work great in both Ubuntu and Windows 7 without installing any driver

Cons: The effect of 7.1 does not persive way too .... but you may notice a slight improvement over the 2.1 output

Other: Very happy because it worked in Ubuntu, which is what I wanted

Pros: Good soundcard, ordered one for my Qnap TS-210 NAS (network attached storage). This NAS has a feature to support soundcards. You can than play mp3's through the web interface or through an app on your Android or Apple Iphone. I later switched to a Synology DS212j on which the soundcard also works great. Sound was tested with a Philips stereo amplifier and two Kef Kresta speakers.

Cons: - the soundcard blocks other usb ports - just stereo, no option for 7.1 sound

Other: Good product for the price.