Tech Review - Zalman External 5.1Ch USB Sound Card

Tech Review - Zalman External 5.1Ch USB Sound Card Hello again, my name is Rodney Reynolds and welcome to another video review. Today, I am looking at the Zalman External 5.1Channel USB Sound Card. What is included in this package is a USB cable, a utility CD, a user’s manual and the external sound card. This external sound card uses the Sonix 5.1 chipset to produce 5.1 channel audio. Most notebooks and some PCs just have basic to channel audio, well you can connect this into your computer system and then you can connect up your 5.1 channel audio system or maybe you have a 5.1 channel headphones. Either way you could do it with the sound card very easily. And let’s have a closer look here at the sound card itself. At the base, we have the 3.5 mm jacks, right here is the center and sub; these are the rare and the front speakers. So you have a total of 6 speakers. You could adjust the volume on either one of those, the center channel right here as well as the sub, the rare and the fronts. And at the very top is the USB connection and you also have an optical and coaxial connection right here. Getting this to work with Windows XP is very simple, any other operating system; just refer to the manual and the other drivers that’s included on the CD for setup. Simply go ahead and connect it into the device. Once you do so, Windows XP will recognize it as a USB audio device. And at this point, it will show you that it’s functioning. You can see here that the power is on. The final step is to go into the audio properties and make sure that it’s going to be using this USB device. The sounds and audio device properties can be found in the control panel. Go into the audio tab and just make sure that the USB audio is selected. Finally, you will need to adjust the speaker settings. Go into the Volume tab down here to Advanced. At the bottom there is a Speaker setup, go down and select 5.1 surround sound speakers; just go Apply, OK and OK. And it’s setup to produce 5.1 channel audio through the external USB sound card. This is an ideal product for anyone who doesn’t have 5.1 channels on their current system, whether it be a notebook or a desktop PC. Now, I’d recommend if you have a desktop PC, spend a few extra bucks and get a high quality 5.1 or 7.1 sound card because it will sound much better than this will but this is meant for ease of use, it’s very easy to install and configure and it does give you decent sound quality. Overall, this is a great product. Again, my name is Rodney Reynolds and this has been another video review. Be sure to check back very soon. I will have a brand new one for you then. Also pop into my website at www.3dgameman.com. And while you are there, you can go into the forums and register. And remember, registration completely free. Also keep in mind, you can find out a lot more on this product in the forums. And as a final note, if you love watching my video reviews, please help support 3dgameman.com. Until the next time, take care.