Hi i've got m1710 and sick of its crap sound. Want usb sound card as the slot (forgotten its name) is rubbish and the xfi is rubbish according to reviews.

so only option is usb now:

my first option is the

1. Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 NX - Sound card - 24-bit - 96 kHz - 7.1 channel surround - Hi-Speed USB - Creative Audigy 2 NX

seen for £51 (am in uk)

I have inspire t6100 speakers 5.1 so may be

2. Sound Blaster Surround 5.1 or

3. or Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1

will be better?

Wich one is best out of those 3 for gaming/video/music play back loud pleaes?

anyone got any other cheapr source? also please advice other alternative ONLY if its BETTER than NX.

thanks


all the best

Eric

Hi Eric

X-Fi is NOT rubbish, some reviews I have seen did not like X-Fi Crystalizer feature but that's one of many features, and you can set it from 0 to 100%. I have it at 50% most of the time, but turn it off and on to suit type of music. Bought my X-Fi mainly for the surround sound for headphones - X-Fi has the best headphone virtualization - works great in games. Can't help with 5.1 though - not using any more. But I guess you have it e.g. for the movies. In that case the remote control with X-Fi Surround might be handy.

There is another option for laptops, much better than any USB solution.

The Echo Indigo card is a high quality professional PCMCIA sound card. Check it out at www.echoaudio.com .

Most laptops have some kind of PCMCIA card slot. I would be surprised if yours doesn't. Most new laptops have the express card slot. Older laptops, and a few of the new models, have the older cardbus slot.

Echo recently came out with the express card version of its Indigo card. It is shipping now, from all major music retailers. Look for it online. Less than $200.

If you have the older cardbus slot, Echo put out a cardbus Indigo card for many years. It was recently discontinued, due to the phasing out of cardbus slots on notebooks (replaced by express card). However, I would guess that if one searches on the web, you can still find Indigo cardbus cards available, probably at a good price.

(By the way, I would not recommend ANY Creative Soundblaster solution. They are junk, the drivers are bloatware, yet they try to attract people by making up fancy names like "Xi-Fi" and "Audigy" (they are very "creative" in their product naming, no?), so people will think that is somethign special.)

Try a Benchmark DAC-1 USB digital-audio converter> Bel Canto also makes a 24/96 USB Link. You could also try an Empirical off ramp 3. I personally own the Benchmark and once you've heard one, you won't believe how much better digital music can sound!

I just purchased a first generation Echo Indigo PCMCIA card for my Alienware m7700 (Clevo D900T). I got it used on ebay for less than 30 bucks. The seller included the original return policy which shows that it was originally purchased in 2003. Despite it being slightly worn, I must say its sound is incredible.

My m7700 has a lot of high power parts in it that create much electronic noise whenever headphones are used and the Indigo ELIMINATES ALL STATIC. The background is "black" and clean, allowing the sound to really stand out. I'm no audiophile so I can't say much more about the improved sound quality past the obvious bass and treble clarity.

The card has two output jacks that use a duplicated signal so it's easy to share music with someone next to you. There's also a volume knob on the card itself. Unfortunately I don't know if there is a way to play the sound through the laptop's onboard speakers. There is no control panel for the card, which, in a way is a good thing in that it uses no system resources other than power.

I'm aware that there are far fewer reviews on the Echo cards than Creative cards online, but I took the advice of a few reviewers (some from audiophile forums) and went for this "professonals'" product. I use the card for music, not games, so I can't comment on it's 3D capabilities although I'm sure they're better than any integrated card's. Definitely take a look at this card before going mainstream with the Creative counterpart. I don't have any recording needs and seldom use a mic for online communication so I opted for this earlier model without an input jack. Keep an eye out on ebay, I'm certain you won't regret it.