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Recruiting your voice on Creative Labs Express Card sound card

post #1 of 23
3/19/07 at 3:34pm
Thread Starter 
I talked to a Creative Labs rep and I was told that if I could get you guys to put in writing that we need the express sound card, he would forward it to his Product Manager and let them hear our voice. Please be nice.

As soon as I get as much responses from you guys as possible, I will then forward it to him.

Thanks for your help.
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post #2 of 23
3/20/07 at 3:06am
I for one would like to see an expresscard sound card on the market.
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post #3 of 23
3/20/07 at 3:52am
Absolutely. I plan to upgrade when Santa Rosa and the 8800 go hit, and I will need an Expresscard sound card, cuz I do multitrack audio work as well.
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post #4 of 23
3/20/07 at 11:30am


I want an express card too!!!
If they could make it where it wouldn't stick out as much....
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post #5 of 23
3/20/07 at 7:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pistolgeek
I talked to a Creative Labs rep and I was told that if I could get you guys to put in writing that we need the express sound card, he would forward it to his Product Manager and let them hear our voice. Please be nice. As soon as I get as much responses from you guys as possible, I will then forward it to him. Thanks for your help.
My Dell Precision M90 has a 54mm Expresscard slot (but no PCMCIA). The built-in audio suffers from hiss, hum, interference, has no EAX acceleration in games - which slow down when there are complex, spatial sounds. Music doesn't sound so great either. I want to buy an Expresscard audio adapter which has:
  • lower noise
  • better isolation and power regulation (low ripple)
  • clearer, crisper sound (lower IMD)
  • better bass (enough output power to drive a set of headphones)
  • 24bit DAC at 48 or 96KHz
  • EAX 4 or 5 for games
I don't happen to need audio inputs or multichannel audio outputs, or low latency - that s a different market.
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post #6 of 23
3/21/07 at 9:24am
Thread Starter 
4 guys responsed? Come on guys, this is not going to help our cause...
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post #7 of 23
3/21/07 at 1:43pm
Most of us definitely would like to see a Creative Express Card Sound Blaster Audigy. I'm giving my support.
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post #8 of 23
3/21/07 at 2:19pm
Count me in for support!!!!!!
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post #9 of 23
3/21/07 at 3:21pm
Put me on the list too.
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post #10 of 23
3/21/07 at 6:09pm
There is supposed to be a latency issue that makes developing a PCI-Express sound card a problem.

Bob
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post #11 of 23
3/21/07 at 11:03pm
i would like a pci express soundcard or a true replacement for the usb audigy 2nx that i currently use.
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post #12 of 23
3/22/07 at 3:26am
(realises something)
Could people go back and edit their post to say if they have a 34mm or 54mm slot?

Image from wikipedia © 2006 Henrik Wannheden used with attribution conformant to its license
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post #13 of 23
3/22/07 at 3:41am
Im down. Remember my old post http://www.notebookforums.com/showth...fi+expresscard

Ask him to confirm that for us please. Thanx!!
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post #14 of 23
3/22/07 at 3:02pm
The specs are quite depressing. It is good they finally broke the expresscard market, but at least give us full X-fi features (eax 5.0, etc....).
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post #15 of 23
3/23/07 at 12:05am
Close up pics for those who are interested

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3589
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post #16 of 23
3/23/07 at 7:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sammykismail
Close up pics for those who are interested

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3589

Thanks, thats helpful - especially to see the connectors on the breakout box. Front, side, centre/sub and rear. So its clear this is focussed on 7.1 multi-channel audio - no use for headphones.

The signal to noise ratio and distortion information on
http://www.soundblaster.com/products/x-fi/
still mekes it sound interesting, and its fine for folks who want to hook up a multi-speaker setup. But I tend not to carry such a setup around with me so a different model would be much more useful.
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post #17 of 23
3/26/07 at 6:00pm
It already has headphone and microphone connectors on the card. The breakout box just provides additional connectivity.

To be honest, I'm disappointed that it sticks so far out of the notebook. If they hadn't had the giant bulbous growth on the end of the thing, I would have considered it. As it is, with the damned card sticking so far out the side of the notebook, and the headphone jack sticking out further still, I'm going to have to make sure I have a foot of clearance on the right side of my notebook to use the soundcard... No thanks.

If people want to use their notebook with 5.1 or 7.1 audio, there are USB solutions for that. They don't need to be super portable, because you don't need a portable solution if you're using 7.1 audio.

On the other hand, if you're using PCI Express, it SHOULD be portable, which to me means that it should stick out as little as possible (preferrably flush with the notebook).
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post #18 of 23
3/27/07 at 6:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guspaz
It already has headphone and microphone connectors on the card. The breakout box just provides additional connectivity.
Thanks. I had seen they were labelled optical out and optical in, but missed that they were also headphone and mic.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Guspaz
On the other hand, if you're using PCI Express, it SHOULD be portable, which to me means that it should stick out as little as possible (preferrably flush with the notebook).

I agree. Although, looking at the plastic spacer that fills my expresscard slot, its too narrow for a 3.5mm jack socket if it was flush.
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post #19 of 23
3/27/07 at 12:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisLilley
I agree. Although, looking at the plastic spacer that fills my expresscard slot, its too narrow for a 3.5mm jack socket if it was flush.
Nobody said it had to be a standard 3.5mm jack. It could simply grip the connector from the sides with just something on top and bottom to keep it in place (keep it from moving). Or, alternatively, it could stick out just enough to plug the headphones into the side of the thing, and not directly into the end. Or, heck, they could even make it flush and use a little dongle. My concern is not that there's something extra outside the notebook, it's that there's something solid sticking out the side. A tiny little dongle that had a small connector on one end, a short flexible wire, and then a 3.5mm jack on the other would be fine. Really, just anything that stops it from sticking out of the notebook so far; sticking out so far means it's not a good idea to leave it in the notebook permanently. Because it's like that, it doesn't seem like an upgrade to the notebook, but instead a peripheral. I want an upgraded soundcard, not a peripheral Oh well. I don't need surround sound for speakers (only headphones), and the Creative software drivers add most of the functionality... The only real benefit to the X-Fi card would have been a significantly better signal-to-noise ratio. I guess I'll live without it.
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post #20 of 23
5/29/07 at 5:59pm
Thread Starter 
Great news. Dell is selling it. Just ordered one.

I got the news from the Creative Labs rep.

I don't believe we've shipped to Fry's yet, however Dell now has the card in stock.
Express Card Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music Sound Card:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A1164635
You may also want to inform the folks on the forums you mentioned to me at Fry's about this.
Thanks for your support!
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