Express Slot Sound Card

Ok so i got this new laptop recently and all in all its great except for the sound quality. I have a massive 1000 Watt 5.1 Surround Sound home theatre system from Pioneer sitting in my room and i connect it to the laptop via a silly SPIDF cable... thats a no go. I know for a fact im losing sound quality here. My amp has all sorts of connectivity options (optical etc.) on it so i decided that its time to dish out some lettuce for a sound upgrade. I am looking for a powerful external sound card that fully supports 5.1 so i can listen to my music the way its meant to be (ooops nVidia slogan) as well as enjoy EAX in video games. Im ready to contribute from $100-$150 for this worthy cause. Sound quality is very important in this matter. The thing is that i dont know which is the BEST way to connect my laptop to the amp - optical, multi-colored cables of some kind, or whatever else is out there?
Any advice in this matter including the best connectivity options and sound card would be highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

I don't know for sure what you should do but let me offer some thoughts and let's hope someone with more knowledge chimes in.

It's my understanding the cleanest digital signal comes out the USB port. So if you're using the spdif out, maybe the poor SQ you're experiencing is because the digital stream has been degraded.

Pioneer makes some highly respected gear even audiophiles approve of. Your unit may already have a good DAC(soundcard) so all you need to do is feed it a good clean digital signal and let the Pioneer do the decoding. If this is the case an external soundcard would be superfluous.

Instead of an external soundcard you might want to consider a USB to optical converter, if such a thing exists. The key here would be a unit which doesn't mess with the original signal but passes it straight to your Pioneer processor to do the heavy lifting/decoding.

I have a similar dilemma. I have a Bryston SP1 pre/processor hooked up to a multi channel music system (home theater). It does not have a USB input. So if I want to hook up my notebook computer to it what is the best way. I'm actually awaiting a return call from Bryston on this issue. I'll post a follow-up when I hear from them.

 

First of all, when you say you are using the "silly SPDIF" are you just using it as a headphonejack or are you using it like the configurable SPDIF that it is? Switch output to Linear PCM and plug it into your CO-Ax/RCA digital in.

Next thing you need to do is dump Vista if you want the most of what you ask for.

XP is the way to go for both EAX and for best Audio options (including DTS and DVD-Audio).

Next question is what is it you're listening to (using as source).

My Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA card is fine using the optical out and using Linear PCM, I like it but then again it won't do surround gaming digitally, that's better handled by the realtek chip, because in order to game with surround sound not using anaolgue connectors, then you need DDL or DTS-C connection to send the surround info to the receiver and with Vista, that's out.

Unfortunately with the ExpressCard only option you are stuck with the new FXs and as such limited in your options, so fo audio you can go with better external USB solutions for DAC quality (that's important for analogue output not for digital transfer) and basic audio playback quality, but gaming will suffer. IMO you're about as good as it gets with your current situation, but the X-Fi expresscard solution will slightly boost your options a bit while unfortunately not currently giving you as many features (due to early drivers and Vista) as the old Audigy 2ZSs.

Personally I would say explore the settings that the G1S offers you, I don't know what the audio chip is in it, but it may offer you DDL which would be exactly what you want for gaming, and then using the linear PCM support for other audio would be fine.

I love turtle beach solutions (the SRM is OK but lacks features of it's desktop brothers), but for gaming it's the XFi or nothing for you IMO.

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=16642

http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/audio-advantage-srm/indetail.aspx

 

I too am looking for a new notebook sound card, with similar requirements: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=211643

The Vista support for the Creative 2zs Notebook sucks, and I'm looking for the best sound quality possible with my setup. Unfortunately my computer doesn't have a Expresscard 54 slot, only 34, so the XFi is out of the question without an adapter. I've done a lot of looking around, so I'll throw out a few ideas for you:

If you want to do a simple Toslink Optical passthrough to your more-than-decent Pioneer setup, this might be a good way to go. You can use the decoders in your HT amp. It won't give you the gaming support you're looking for though (I'm not a huge gamer, but a BIG audiophile, so game support isn't a requirement for me):
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Transit-main.html

This is a little old, but it seems really good, and has gotten decent ratings. I personally don't recognize the brand. It is old (2005) but has similar 3D gaming support, and due to its age, it might be cheaper now and meet your price requirement (I'm looking to spend $350 max). Even though it's firewire, it does have an adapter in the package.

Site: http://sounden.terratec.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=198
A decent Review: http://www.trustedreviews.com/multimedia/review/2005/02/09/Terratec-Aureon-7-1-FireWire/p1

Otherwise, I agree with TheGreatG****Ape; the XFi notebook is the way to go. At least you have a full sized Expresscard Slot Happy hunting, and let me know if you find something better!

 

Yeah I replied in your other thread, and I agree about Vista support for..... uh... everything!!

Speaking of which I think a limitation in the M-Audio solution is no DTS support under Vista IIRC.

That's the biggest killer for you both IMO.

Personally I love RME audio hardware and they have some PCMCIA and FireWire solutions, but they are both out of your budgets and also don't do gaming. For day to day stuff, unfortunately we're stuck with The Audigy2ZS with it's Buggy Vista Drivers or the XFi with it's lesser features and equally restricted Vista support.

There's a TON of better desktop options out there than Creative, but for laptops we're very limited, especially if gaming plays a role at all.

LOL it censored my nickname because of the word RAP3 in it.

 

Thanks TheGreatG r a p eApe! (lol) I responded in my thread...