Sound card for laptop?

Is there such a thing? I have the Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop and will be hooking it up to the z-5500's once they arrive. The sound coming out of the laptop is usually horrible, is there an external sound card that would work with 5.1 and headphones?

 

Creative X-FI PCI Express card.

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=16642

Apparently there will be a USB version coming out if it hasn't already (but I haven't seen it).

 

I saw that as well, but it says it needs a ExpressCard/54 slot. How can I tell if I have one? I know it is an expresscard slot but it might not be the big one.

 

If your laptop have some form of digital ouput (usually a optical spdif port burried in the 3.5mm headphone out port). Then all you need is to get one of this :

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10229&cs_id=1022902&p_id=1557&seq=1&format=2

to pass the digital audio signal directly to the Z5500.

 

there is an USB version also..

Not really much improvement in sound quality except i could hear the Low end frequency's real well.

U r better off buying sennheiser headphones.



I tried them with Creative Aurvana DJ headphones.

Not worth the money.

any specific reason why u wanna buy Soundcard?

 

I used to have the laptop hooked up to some z-2300's and it sounded terrible compared to my desktop. I recently just bought some z-5500's and want better sound from the laptop for music mainly.

 

It doesnt need to be expresscard. There are a number of USB soundcards. The $50 creative external card is an pretty good quality and inexpensive option.

 

Thats not true for all laptop soundcards. For laptops that do have decent sound options it wont make a difference, but for the majority of laptops you will be able to notice a difference

 

Laptop soundcards are cannot match Desktops cards i think..

Coz the sound quality from my laptop is pathetic compared even to my iPod

 

^Thats why you need an external soundcard...

 

I have the same speakers and simular laptop, I beleive the 1501 has a s-video out, has 7 pins, I just bought an adpater for my laptop and it hooks into the back, and provides digital out, via coax, which the logitech 5500 have, Link. Buy that, hook it in, then run a rca cable to the logitech 5500 from the blck port on that, it all in digital so it has true 5.1 surround sound and sounds great, I have the same speaker system, and I love them



SORRY, just found out that the 1501 doesnt have s-video, just buy the creative card, and buy the addon, very expensive, and it would have been much better if dell would have just put a s-video in the laptop, darn

 

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=206&product=10702 I've been using one of those for about 2 years on 3 different laptops with XP and vista, woks very well with 5.1 speakers, though there's some noise when using a mic. I found mine for 50$, you'd probably have to hunt down a used one.

 

Thats the card I was talking about. Good quality and pretty inexpensive.

 

I used it with my old laptop (I broke headphone out), and wasn't impressed at all. Definitely not "crystal clear" - IMO (creative products aren't great for sound quality). However, if you just need it for digital out, then it would be adequate.

 

and Creative products are cheap build quality.

are there any other manufacturers for sound cards?

 

Plenty, but they are all going to be from higher end audio companies and be alot more expensive. But one of the cheapest is the M-Audio transit which is around $100

 

Do not buy a USB audio device. Unless there are drivers from the company that makes it. Don't rely on the built in windows drivers. Pretty sure there are some great companies starting to make Expresscard soundcards. I think Echo has one out. I would rate audio devices this way Expresscard>Firewire>USB.

 

IMO, Amps are better than soundcard if u have atleast 32 Ohm Headphones.

 

Just get a DAC(Sound card), amp combo, such as this.
http://www.ttvj.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&manufacturers_id=32&products_id=1170

Although its not for a 5.1 speaker system, but for headphones. I don't really have any suggestions for 5.1 systems because I've never had, or been interested in one for my PC(I'm more of a headphone guy).

 

Ok folks, hands down the best on the market for sound quality and performance I recommend the Echo Indigo IO:

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/CardBus/IndigoIO/index.php

It lists for about $149 but it can be had for far less if you shop around. It provides pro grade performance without the need for a breakout box. It also easily outperforms creative's options. After hearing the output of this card on a friend's laptop I was sold. He actually upgrade from a creative card. It is currently on my list of necessary upgrades.

For those with aspirations of becoming a digital DJ i recommend the sister card the Echo Indigo DJ

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/CardBus/IndigoDJ/index.php

 

I would get the sound card so you can achieve 5.1 audio.

 

Hello guys, my question is related to the laptop-5.1 dolby relationship but a bit differently. I have a HP 8510p laptop and i would like to buy a speak+subwoofer.

I would use it for gaming and some music, and my budget is max 150-200$.

My questions:
1. 2.1 set (like Z 2300) or 2. 5.1 set
2. What would you recommend for me to buy?


thank you in advance

best
anpe008