TechSpot take a look at the CMI8768+ based, Diamond Xtreme Sound 7.1 DDL (Dolby Digital Live) PCI soundcard. The card features real-time Dolby Digital encoding, 24-bit/96kHz playback, 8-channel analog output, and a relatively low price tag.

Performance is reasonable and Dolby Digital Live support functions as well as you would expect it to, offering a higher quality alternative to analog output (depending on the decoder you connect it to, of course) while 7.1 Analog output is also welcome.

The Xtreme Sound 7.1 DDL is currently retailing for ~$60, and is available through a wide range of online retailers. As we had mentioned throughout the review, Diamond Multimedia also offers a 'vanilla' version of the Xtreme Sound 7.1 which resembles the product we reviewed but lacks DDL support. This version of the card is selling for a mere $30, which makes for a great on-board sound replacement if you did not plan to use the DDL feature.

With that said, you should remember that other older competing cards are still around, so if you are more interested in superior gaming support, equivalent audio quality (with minor caveats), and are willing to lose DDL support you can find the Audigy 2 ZS selling in the ~$75 range. Conversely, if you prefer superior audio quality over gaming support (plus DDL), M-Audio's Revolution 5.1 is yet another similarly priced alternative.