Task: Text Matching
Input (English): Let's get this out of the way, first: Yes the case is made of thin flimsy plastic, and it doesn't look like it can handle drops to the floor.  I'm using it with a Behringer ecm8000 mic and Real Time Analyzer (RTA) software (on my laptop running WindowsXP PRO SP3) to precisely tune notch filters and speaker crossover networks and it works perfectly.  Audio output sinewaves show up very clean and accurate under an oscilloscope, with peaks at 90 degrees (which is a good sign).  No hissing sounds at all, it's very quiet with a mic connected, high frequency-spectrum wise.  For the record, I bought a usb to Toslink output adapter to connect to the amplifier because integrated laptop/PC sound cards are usually noisy as hell.  I think some people are using mics with very low sensitivity or crappy output sources (e.g. cheesy soundcards, amps, receivers or multimedia speakers), or even lousy, improperly shielded mic cables and blaming the unit, but who knows.  What I can safely say is, for the cheap price, the unit manages to produce an output that has a very high gain and runs virtually flat while covering the entire audio spectrum.  WINDOW7 FUNCTIONALITY(updated): At first, it didn't work with WINDOWS7 x64 Ultimate.  I kept getting a message about not being able to find a driver.  And at the time the Icicle website made no mention of Windows 7 compatibility (2 months later, they are saying it's compatible with XP, VISTA and Windows 7).  After nearly giving up, I found my old USB motorola cell phone charger cable lying around and noticed it had a similar mini-usb header to the that of the Icicle's.  I connected the Icicle using the motorola cable into my Windows 7 PC, and to my surprise it was recognized.  I actually got the idea when the Icicle began losing its USB connection (with the original cable) whenever I moved it around a lot.  Could it be the dinky looking USB cable included with the Icile causing intermittent disconnects or driver problems with Windows 7?  I'm really not sure at this point.  What I can say is that the Blue Icicle seems 100% reliable when used with the old Motorola USB cable.  Perhaps the Motorola cable makes better contact or has better shielding--who knows.  (I'm inclined to cut away the white insulation of the original Icicle cable just see if it's shielded to the USB's electrical ground source.  It wouldn't be the first time I find an unshielded USB cable.  Then again, it might be the mini-USB header causing the problem.) 
 Summary: Icicle on Mac OS X
Output (English): False