Just got the SB Audigy ZS PCMCIA! - Page 4

never had the popping issue either..

Way back I remember somebody mentioning these systems had a ground loop in the power. The way around it was to plug the power in so that the ground connector was not attached. A 2 prong extension cord or a plug adaptor without a ground plug would do it.

Thanks

That did it. What can I say, it makes a world of difference. No hum, thank goodness.

Finian

Creative has crappy drivers and software. Period.

I cannot insert/remove the thing without restarting Windows. If I insert it while Windows is up, I get sound and effects but no soundfont capability. If I remove it, well, blue screen (duh); however, safely remove hardware doesn't work for me.

The card also caused my laptop's shutdown times to go from ~15 sec to 4 minutes. Then I found out that there was a problem with Creative's CTHELPER program. Preventing it from launching on startup brought shutdown issues to a more acceptable level (but every now and then it still decides to not shut down... haven't figured out a pattern yet).

ASIO is great. I can work at 7ms latency pretty safely with a software sampler. Playing Beethoven's Pathetique without being thrown off by audio latency is not a problem at all. I love it.

Soundfonts on this thing, though, just suck. Okay, I can get 7ms latency with a software sampler playing 100+ simultaneous voices using ASIO, but Soundfonts (Creative's own format) have a ~50ms+ latency? This is unacceptable for live playing, which (in addition to its gaming features) was one of the primary reasons I bought this thing (compare the amount of free soundfonts you find to the amount of banks for other samplers). The fact that Vienna Soundfont Editor won't launch doesn't help the matter, either ("Soundfont editing capability is being used by another app..." after a clean boot... Right). I can load Soundfonts, but can't edit them on my laptop. Great.

Still, it's great as a gaming and entertainment device. Being able to tweak audio effects like the PCI Audigy is awesome, and CMSS (mixes 2-channel audio to 4/5.1/etc.) is actually pretty cool.

kX, where are you?

Edit: No hum on my home speakers, but there is some when hooked up to another amp I have access to. It goes away when the laptop is unplugged, so it's probably the ground loop issue others talk about.

Hey Wac,

I just got the Logitech z5300e's is that the same as yours (you just listed em as 5300's). The only difference is that I'm running the USB Audigy 2 NX card. I am getting the exact same sound cracking problems that everyone else is getting. I might go ahead and try your way of removing the crackling noise, but in doing that does that mean that you cannot use your speakers on the go? You said to leave the onboard sound unrecognized by not installing the default Dell drivers.

Gratz on your speakers, I love my logitechs too. My buddy still has the Z5500's which really POUND. These are still good enough to annoy my entire floor in the dorms.

Hi.

I am waiting to receive my new i9200 (scheduled to ship on 2/25). I ordered the SB Audigy ZS last night from newegg after realizing the i9200 didn't have a line-in (I record frequently from other stereo (and some mono) audio input).

Since I will not have installed the Creative software, do I still uninstall the onboard sound software/drivers? If so, will the laptop's speakers, headphone and mic-in jacks still function? (Sorry if my questions sound ignorant!)

Thanks (great forum BTW!)
Sandra

No, the onboard speakers and mic connections will not work with the Audigy. You'll need to connect the audigy to speakers / headphones and a mic.

Whack: Are you using the 'digital' button in the THX control panel? For some reason mine is greyed out and I can't for the life of me figure out why.

i used soundblaster products for years .... but i decided to try something different for my l9100 . the echo indigo i/o is great ! definitely the way to go ! it just fits into your PCI slot on your computer and there you go . for all the specs you can go to the website ... but for the size and sound quality you're not going to beat this damn soundcard! i got mine for about $160.00 and you can probably find them cheaper these days .

everything from Creative is consumer-quality...in other words... crap... the software, the drivers, hell even you had it running perfectly, the card itself isn't very good if you know what specs to look for...

if you want a real laptop soundcard that performs and has competent software, buy Echo...

Can you open the CD tray while the card is in? (I have a 9100). I've been considering the Echo, but it seems it may block the CD tray from opening all the way. Not a big issue, but still wondering...

Thanks to this tip from NetHead in Creative Forums:
You can indeed use your laptops internal speakers with ZSN!
No hissing or noise, although it is mono.
Works perfectly beside that.
Good for when you don't have external or headphones.
Even though it's mono, it still blows away the onboard Sigmatel 2.1 crap.
This cured the incompatability issues I had with Nascar Racing 2003 season.

BTW, the i9200 uses Ricoh RL5C476 (not R5C476), and it works 100% with the ZSN. Instantly set itself for advanced mode during install (Pentium M 1.8GHz). Connected analog to 6.1 Kenwood, and it tested fine with all modern games, DVD's, and audio I could throw at it. Same results using headphones. Did not test DD since I didn't make the cable yet. Looks like Dell finally got something right.

I had the Audigy and replaced it with the Indigo IO. Go to http://notebookforums.com/showthread...263#post718263 for a quick comparison based upon my experiences.

Bottom line: IMHO, the Indigo IO is significantly better.

New drivers released today add the ability to use the ZSN with your laptops internal speakers. No more mono with mic jumper trick. Now back to 2.1 speakers when desired, but without the Sigmtel crap. Excellent update!

This is probably a silly question, but... can you confirm that works? If so, how's it sound?

Yes, it works great.
Now the sound quality is only determined by the speakers used.
Not great with my i9200 2.1 laptop speakers, but still much better than it was using SigmaTel.

For gaming and DVD's, I'll still use headphones or external.

Just installed my ZS-Notebook today. I'm using it with external speakers at the mo'. Seems to work well enough so far, although I don't have a surround rig or digital gear to check the clicking / popping issues reported in Advanced mode.

Also, so far all I have installed is the drivers from the website - haven't bothered with any of the other software yet.

Rob, any tricks to being able ot use the internal speakers?