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    Recommended External Sound card?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by UltiCOW, Dec 22, 2008.

  1. UltiCOW

    UltiCOW Notebook Geek

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    Hey guys!

    I have an lg p300 running on vista 32. This means that I only have a 34mm express card slot and usb to hook up an external sound card.

    The most important feature would be SPDIF out, which I need to hook up my lappie to a 5.1 system.

    Right now I am looking at the USB Sound Blaster X-FI Surround 5.1 sound card but I have heard very mixed reviews about this.

    I plan to do some casual gaming and watch 1080p movies :)

    If you have any experience with this card or an alternative solution, please let me know!
    Price wise, anything over 100$ is out :(

    Thanks in advance,
    -Cow
     
    UltiCOW, Dec 22, 2008
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  2. cjcerny

    cjcerny Notebook Consultant

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    Asus makes something you might be interested in. It's an external USB to SPIDF 5.1 device.
     
    cjcerny, Dec 22, 2008
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  3. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I had a similar thread here:
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=333428

    We got the card you're looking at.
    It does a reasonable/good job.
    I.e. the crystalizer can be overenthusiastic at times, but can be switched off.

    Its got a lot of software coming with it.

    The specs on the side seem wrong though - it runs fine on a 1,86GHz Pentium Dual Core playing music and browsing i.e. no gaming.
     
    DetlevCM, Dec 22, 2008
    #3
  4. UltiCOW

    UltiCOW Notebook Geek

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    Okay cool :)
    Thanks for the input.

    Right now im looking at the Asus Xonar U1. Seems to be just what I need!.
    Im guessings thats the product you meant cjcerny?

    :)

    -COW
     
    UltiCOW, Dec 22, 2008
    #4
  5. Jaycee8980

    Jaycee8980 Notebook Deity

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    Long time since I posted here.

    Anyways, if I were you, i wouldnt go with a dedicated computer sound card but a "card" more geared towards DJ's such as the Presonus Firebox or a more affordable option such as the Numark DJ IO
     
    Jaycee8980, Dec 22, 2008
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  6. quinielascom

    quinielascom Notebook Enthusiast

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    I use a USB Live! 24-bit External for play 720p or 1080p mkv (5.1 channels) movies connected to Home Theater using a optical cable and works very well.

    The software that i use to view movies is the Media Player Classic Homecinema (acceleration by hardware) or KMPlayer.

    [​IMG]

    Regards.
     
    quinielascom, Dec 22, 2008
    #6
  7. Spare Tire

    Spare Tire Notebook Evangelist

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    If portability is what you want, the expresscard is good. If it's sound quality you want, USB DAC with it's own powersupply is best. I got a Citypulse DA-2.03e, it's not bad, can be selectively set to non-oversampling or oversampling 44.1 to 88.2 or 48 to 96kHz, doubles as headphone amp and pre-amp for other sources like spdif, coax, and an analog in. Outputs one volume controled RCA pair and another RCA pair that's just line-out. There are better out there but not at this price point, last time i checked it was about like 400$ or something i think.

    EDIT: Oops, didn't see the budget. Oh well.
     
    Spare Tire, Dec 22, 2008
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  8. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    By the way - I got the Soundblaster X-Fi Go today - better than my integratd Sigmatel HD Audio card (and portable = important for me)
    I'd say as good as the one I mentioned above.
     
    DetlevCM, Dec 22, 2008
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  9. Michel.K

    Michel.K 167WAISIQ

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    Anyone know if the Creative Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA-card works nicely with vista?
     
    Michel.K, Dec 22, 2008
    #9