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Sound Upgrade

post #1 of 6
7/5/07 at 4:29am
Thread Starter 
OK, I've been looking at two options to upgrade my sound and I'm looking for some opinions. First is the Creative Xmod. Best Buy is selling this for $40. That's about $30-40 less than anyone else....which is why I'm considering it. I know that it is pretty much just for using with MP3's. I guess it doesn't do much for gaming. Now I don't plan on hooking my laptop up to other speakers, just headphones. The other option is the X-fi laptop version. I can get that through Dell for $64, so not much more. Now here is what I want. I listen to music, I play games. I rarely if ever watch movies on it. I'm not a high end person, I just want something that will improve the quality(I have a set of HD Sennheisers that I use for headphones, nothing high end). Are neither of these options going to improve the gaming sounds? If not, I'll obviously go with the cheaper option. Is there any real advantage of one over the other?
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post #2 of 6
7/5/07 at 4:54am
honestly unless your going to go with a 5.1 sound system dont really count on getting better sound it will only sound louder i have heard a couple of cheap sound system on a computer wasnt really worth the price i would recommend some better headset i have some that bring up the base it sounds alot better than my actually speakers on my laptop and they only cost $20 and sometimes sound better than the bose sound system i have but that depends on the movie
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post #3 of 6
7/5/07 at 5:05am
Good headphones have soundstage, precise audio placement, good imaging, impeccable clarity. But they're only as good as the source allows them to be.

Unless the stock soundcard on an XPS can provide that, then an upgrade is definately necessary.

Of course, take in mind that the headphones you choose should be good enough for gaming and sufficient enough to even warrant an upgrade. Search for phones with good soundstage, tight but impactful bass and good instrumental separation.

What phones do you have btw? HD280?
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post #4 of 6
7/5/07 at 4:04pm
Thread Starter 
I have the Sennheiser HD485's.

So does anyone have any experience with either of these options? I'm gonna pick up the Xmod at best buy and give it a shot. I'm just wondering if the X-fi notebook would be better in the long run and better all around.
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post #5 of 6
7/5/07 at 7:31pm
Could I ask you guys, when you plug in your headphone to the 1705, do you hear a background hiss?
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post #6 of 6
7/5/07 at 10:24pm
Depends on the headphones. I have a good pair that doesnt hiss and I have a pair thats better but has very noticeable hiss when no sound is playing (both sony).
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