Intro

While I was reviewing the Zalman headphones, I came across a new product that Zalman was manufacturing to accommodate their headphones, the Zalman External 5.1ch Sound Card. I thought that this would be perfect to use with my laptop when I'm on the road. As fate would have it, PCToy Land had offered one to PimpRig for review and after begging and pleading with the powers that be, I agreed to public forum humiliation by the other staff members and my first born. Honestly, I just got lucky and was selected to perform this review. Here it is for your reading pleasure.

The thought that someone could just plug in a USB cord to receive quality sound is a great idea; not everyone can just pop open a computer case and install a sound card. If it's as easy as this who, who would want to? I know some people are just afraid or don't have the skills to do install hardware, and with USB peripherals as the most common Plug & Play interface it is a no-brainer to perform an upgrade. With the ability to chain up to 127 USB devices, the possibilities are endless for what we can use them for. For today though, I will just stick with a USB sound card.

The Package

The sound card came well packed and protected in a small box packed full off those styrofoam peanuts that always manage to escape. The package consists of a vacuum formed clear plastic that shows off the card and lets you have a glimpse of the features, specifications, and a diagram of how to connect the card.

For sake of image quality I will go ahead and List the specs for you here:

System Requirements

SOFTWARE

HARDWARE

Opening the package was easy, I didn't have to whip out the razor knife to cut through the thick plastic. The plastic is perforated for easy removal of the components. Here I have it all laid out, the package linings, utility/driver disc, USB cord (which is 1.2m long), the sound card, and a 22 page instruction/user manual. The manual is in all English with a lot of illustrations.

Looking at the card from the top we can see the brushed aluminum face plate. At the bottom there are plugins for center/sub woofer, rear, and front. The right side has the dials to adjust the sound level in each channel.

A side view of the top shows the USB plug in and digital out plug. On the bottom of the card were 4 rubber feet, and under the feet are the case screws. Pull the case screws and the cover comes right off. In the front center you can see the red LED which acts a power indicator. When it's lit up solid it means power is on, when the LED is blinking it means the card is getting a signal.