Creative Labs Notebook Sound Card

My laptop got dropped/bumped about 1.5 years ago, and one of the side effects of this is that my headphone jack (and sound card) got damaged. Whenever I listen to things through headphones, only one channel goes through (effectively mono sound ). As a remedy to this and as a great sound upgrade for future notebooks, I'm planning on getting this card. I don't want the bulky USB version.

Has this card generally worked well for people for playing games, listening to music, editing music (but no recording which it hasn't done so well at)? I've also heard about problems with the PCMIA adapter not being compatible with all notebooks. How would I obtain a compatibility list?

 

The Audigy 2 ZS is a great card, I've tried it on mines, a friend bought it for his DV1000 and its such an improvement, based on what I've heard from his Creative 2.1 speakers.

I'm not sure about the editing music though.

I'm pretty sure its compatiable with all notebooks, but perhaps call or email Creative and ask?

 

I've never used it but have heard from several people who love it. I tried contacting Creative to get a review unit but they didn't appear interested.

 

I just picked this up today, and I am flat out impressed by the huge improvement in sound it provides. Even with the "subpar" headphones that are provided in the package, the sound that this card outputs is light years ahead of any onboard solution. Heck, even the Windows sounds include the startup music sound completley different. You have know idea what you're missing until you actually try it.

After reading countless complaints on the internet about compatibility issues, I still took the plunge, and I have not (so far) come across any of the problems people have listed like the pops, crackles, etc. Music files play as well as ever, and I'm able to make out individual instruments. On the whole, everything sounds bright, crisp, and clear, not muddy and compressed like before.

In games even as simple as Warcraft III, I noticed a slight performance increase, and I could even make out the tiny background sound effects that I could never catch before. As for EAX, it works like a charm. Surround sound never sounded better on my laptop. And I know it could be even better if I bought better quality headphones and fumbled around more with the settings.

Overall, I am thoroughly impressed with this product so far, and I hope that I don't run into any problems in the coming days. Assuming that this card continues to operate as it does and assuming that it doesn't have compatibility problems with my future purchases, this is some of the best $99 I've ever invested for my laptop.

For completeness, my system is a 4 year old Compaq Presario 2800T and the PCMCIA controller is TI-1410, not one of the confirmed compatible controllers, but one that received fairly good results from what I've read. I have the second edition of this product, the one in the "blister pack." I purchase mine from Micro Center, but it is commonly found at Best Buy too.

I might do a more formal review if this continues to pan out well.

------------------------------------------
| Rating (Out of 10)
------------------------------------------
| Ease of Setup - 10
| Stick the card in, install the drivers and
| software, and you're done!
------------------------------------------
| Features - 9.5
| Apart from the Indigo card which is more
| catered to musicians than the average
| consumer, this card packs the most
| functionality seen in any external solution.
------------------------------------------
| Sound Quality - 9.5
| Even with the provided headphones, the
| sound quality is purely amazing and works
| as advertised.
------------------------------------------
| Value - 9
| $99 is rather steep for something like this,
| but for the quality and feature set, it can't
| be beaten. It's also amazingly compact.
------------------------------------------
| Support/Documentation - 5
| Creative is notorious for being skimpy with
| documentation, and this product is no
| exception. But since it works like a charm, I
| see no need (yet).
------------------------------------------
| Overall - 9.5
------------------------------------------

 

I've had this card since January and I must say that it is a musician's dream. I've had no problems whatsoever recording music in clear 24-bit WAV files. (Be sure to head to creative's site and get all the most recent updates, they really improve the product far more than what is advertised out of the box.

 

I'm glad to hear that it worked out for you!!

I once had a laptop with crappy sound quality - I kept getting a hissing noise through the jack, no matter what I used - speakers or headphones.

I might just invest in one of these, since I hear that there is so much of a difference in sound quality!! Seems worth it!

 

I recently bought a Philips Aurilium 5.1 external USB sound card, and it works pretty well. It only costs me $25 USD off eBay, and since the sound is already pretty good on my lappy, I'll only use my 5.1 speakers at home, so on the go, the sound is already good enough.

But I would of invested in the Audigy ZS 2 if my speakers were really crappy!

here are some reviews that made me buy it

http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/phil/
http://www.techspot.com/reviews/hardware/philips_aurilium/aurilium-6.shtml

 

ive been really thinking about buying one of these too...but i dont know wether to go for the PCMCIA, or the NX USB model...im really leaning more towards this PCMCIA model though, despite what some say about its lack of features...

 

Lack of features? Apart from the ports (which wouldn't be possible), the PCMCIA model is completely superior to the USB model which was based off a lower end card. This model is based directly off the Audigy 2 ZS with virtually nothing pruned off. If your lappie is compatible with this card, there's little reason to hop for the NX.

 

anybody have a preference of this card to the Echo Indigo?

 

It depends on what your needs are. If you play games, especially more intensive games or multiplayer oriented games like CS:S, the Creative card is by far the better choice. But if you listen entirely to or mostly to music, the Indigo is a better choice. Or better yet, you'd be better off with one of these instead:



http://www.xitel.com/product_phfl.htm