Just got the SB Audigy ZS PCMCIA!

Looking forward to it, been looking into that myself since the one shipped, as mentioned... really does not amount to much.

On a sidenote - is there a thread where you discuss your abnormal 3dmark scores and hybrid bios and how you unloccked a 9th pipe and how you oced it to that much?

you're cool whack

What are you using for speakers and/or a headset?

Love mine man. By the way Whack, how is the MR9800 modified bios project coming? I am hoping for some more pipelines.

For headphones I am looking at the top of the line Sennheiser wireless model. I have the external sound card but in a USB format and it is awesome.

Not knowing alot about PCMCIA and USB, which would give the least impact on the CPU??

CPU usage depends rather on the particular device but not on the type of connection. Here's http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1684456,00.asp info on the SB Audigy 2 ZS Notebook.

Cheers thanks alot VRT.

I've used creative web-update page to actual the drivers and some other software! Before I've used the Audigy2 NX USB, but with it I had some problems in game like FarCry togeher with Hardware Acceleration and EAX, and now this Card is working very well.
A Tipp: With the Headphone(Headset) from Speed-Link (Medusa) which can 5.1 every game sound fantastic.

okay, my first post.
Can you give more details why this card is so superior to the inbuilt audio? I care most about music reproduction and maybe movies -- does it matter or is it mostly more/better sound effects in games. I don't have a fancy 5.1 setup, just a nice stereo system and a pair of Grado headphones... Thanks

To be honest, for playing music, all of Creative's gamer line (Anything with Soundblaster or Audigy in the name) suck. Period. They resample to 48khz...poorly. They are also no better than other cheaper, more practical, solutions for movies. The two things they have going for them are a) Gaming and b) Marketing. For a music solution, the Apple Airport Express is wireless, and can playback music bit-for-bit perfect (an accomplishment not easily achievable). For movies, I would suggest the M-Audio Transit. Cheap (<$70) and, I BELIEVE, it can also play back music bit-for-bit perfect.

Check out those two solutions.

However, if you DO own a 9100/XPS, then I can only assume you game, hence, the A2 PCMCIA ZS is the best solution on the market for laptop gamers.

I DO own a 9100 and I have finished HL2. Awesome game. So you are saying it is night and day for games even on a simple stereo system (no surround sound, etc)?

Not only night and day sound for games, but there is a performance boost as well. Not to mention no more buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............................

I doubt in "performance boost" part because CPU usage is quite high with Audigy 2 ZS Notebook with EAX on. Can somebody clarify this?

i think pcmcia is higher when it comes to cpu usage than the usb one...dont know if that is a correct statement or not. and kypen i would like to know what you are basing your information on because your comment about the audigy sucking at playing music seems fishy. my brother mixes music on his computer and stuff so he has been using my usb audigy and he swears by it. he loves it to death!

question. is the sound quality better with headphone use only, or only when listening through speakers, with this card?

right but what I mean is, let's say you have a good pair of headphones. if you use these same headphones on the built in soundcard with the 9100 and with the audigy 2, would you notice a difference between the two, with the same headphones?

I am basing it on several things. First off, experience. Comparing an Audigy to other cards (specifically the Chaintech AV-710). While the AV-710 is <$30, it has bit-perfect out of the optical SPDIF as well as solid analog out due to the Wolfson DAC on the 7/8 outs. Compared to optical out of the Audigy, the AV-710 has much more punch in the bass, MUCH MUCH less noise, and the highs are so much more clear. The same goes for the analog of the Audigy. Using Foobar's resampler (or a comparable one) to resample the music manually to 48khz before it gets to the hardware helps, but it doesn't even touch the Audigy. I am only comparing the analog out of the AV-710 to both Audigy outputs because it wouldn't be fair to compare using the AV-710 optical due to the sound being dependant on the external DAC.

I don't doubt that your brother swears by his (or your) Audigy, but have you taken the time to compare it to other solutions? And not just onboard sound, but the E-MU 0404 or the 1414? The Chaintech? What about RME? Maybe the Revolution 7.1 or the Prodigy 7.1? If you are looking for USB, then what about the M-Audio Transit or Sonica, among their numerous commertical firewire mixing cards?

How are we supposed to have our own opinions if we don't make direct comparisons to others?