ExpressCard Sound Card ; Gaming

So, I own an Asus G51j-A1 and the sound quality is pretty much such donkey. I've been looking into using an ExpressCard Sound card but I'm a bit lost in whats "out" there.

I'm mostly looking towards gaming and generic music listening and Blu-ray quality movies. I would never consider myself an audiophile.

I've read a lot of negative comments about Creative Labs' Sound blaster such as this;

http://www.soundblaster.com/product...=1&subcategory=208&product=17988&listby=brand

and

http://www.soundblaster.com/product...=1&subcategory=208&product=16642&listby=brand

Mostly complaints about drivers. Would those serve my purpose just fine? Are there other competitors that would target the same market as these? I've heard of Echo Indigo but that seems for people who are a bit more into hardcore audio...

PS: What are the main differences between these two?

Also, I didn't want to post in the older threads I found since they were back from 2008 and didn't quite answer my question.

Edit: I should say that I was looking for something to provide emulated surround sound through head sets. I own a Razer Cacharias (recent purchase) and didn't like the idea of buying a whole new set just for the supposed 5.1 and 7.1 support.

 

I have the card that your second link points to: the ExpressCard X-Fi. I connect my logitech Z-5500's to it and all sounds jolly. Also good for my gaming headset. The only problem i have with the card is the software and the drivers that come with it. Often times when your remove the card from the expresscard slot nothing happens and the comp doesnt recognize that hte card is unplugged even if you "safely remove" it. When you plug it in, the computer can freeze and then you have to restart. When reinstalling the drivers there are too many versions out there, one of which the windows updater tries to download, the other one of which you will be downlaoding, and the other type is on the supplied DVD. none of these drivers solve any issues and often time will install erroneously and cause the card to malfunction or not show up in the device manager at all.
If it wasnt the software issues,i would be very content with the card.

 

Sounds like you've done some research Dragoonx. I personally would never touch the creative cards over the Echo, but I'm more of a hardcore audio guy and don't game on my PC. That being said, for gaming, the creative is just as well or maybe even better due to the 'effects' they have.

 

Hm. Would there be a difference between having a normal Cacharias head set hooked up to a sound card that enables 5.1 or a USB headset with its own drivers like the Megaladon?

I guess what I'm looking for is the most convenient/least hardware set up for surround sound on a laptop.

 

No, those headphones are stereo so a 5.1 sound card will not do anything different for them.

 

Hm. I was under the impressions that the emulated surround sound would enable it on any stereo headset through the card.

Still unsure on what to go with in terms of a card to enable surround and compatible headset in that case. I would get a Megaladon but theres issues with W7.

 

Well, the creative cards do have a '3d' mode. I have heard they make it a bit better, but I haven't actually tested it as I am not a gamer. Maybe Voglebung can answer your question. You should shoot him a PM.

 

AFAIK all the Creative notebook cards rely on software for any CMSS / X-Fi effects. So basically you're basically slowing down your machine to get an inferior facsimile of the desktop card.

Personally I'd just get something like an Astro Mixamp (dependent on your internal or outboard audio setup, however), or more reliably, stick to something like the Logitech G35 (which seems to have a fairly efficient - in terms of machine impact - surround algorithm) if you want surround out of a laptop.

 

Well I use the ExpressCard X-Fi after my cat got wrapped in my headphones and destroyed the audio out and mic 3.5mm jacks on my Sager NP5793 (I found a deal on the card so it was a good option at the time). Can't really say anything bad about it. It seems a lot more effective in combonation with a decent headset than anything else, so if you're a gamer it's a plus. Otherwise, the sound is above average, but nothing to oogle over. I had some driver issues at first but the last time I reinstalled windows I let windows 7 download the drivers and haven't had any problems since then. I can't think of an easier way to improve sound quality (it was a substantial improvement), but I'm certain there are options that would provide better sound quality. Let me know if you have any other specific questions about it.