External soundcard recommendations? - NP9170

Hey, I just got my NP9170.

I love it, except for two things:

The keyboard swells just a TINY bit around the R,T,F, and G keys.

And the audio sucks. It's just truly, truly awful. Unforgivably bad.

But I don't want to just bail on the whole system because the audio blows. I'm perfectly willing to get an affordable external sound card to take care of the issue.

Now, can I get some recommendations? Any and all help is appreciated.

 

Also, in the mean time, is there any way to get rid of all the awful buzzing and feedback I'm getting through my headphones whenever I play a game?

 

Got myself an Asus Xonar U3. I'm using it with Sennheiser HD 595s, and it works great. It comes with an easy-to-use mixer so you can tune the sound to your liking.

 

If you want surround, Creative has some nice 5.1 USB choices. If you don't care about surround, get an audio interface or headphone amp.

 

Fiio E17 is a great amp if you don't want/need Dolby Headphone, a Cheaper version would be the E10 and if you want dolby headphone the mixamp is always a decent one, don't get anything Creative.

 

If you have headphones that can make use of the benefits, then:

Laptop use only:

Asus Xonar U3
Fiios E10

Portable use (ie iPod, mp3 player) + laptop:

Fiios E17

I'm using the asus u3 with the Audio technica ATH-M50S and it's working great so far.


Good luck

 

You could get the optical/digital sound with a TOSLINK adapter and a S/PDIF cable to headphones with an optical S/PDIF port such as
Amazon.com: Sony MDRDS6500 Digital Surround Headphones: Electronics
or use the optical S/PDIF cable with an adapter to go back to analog sound, albeit cleaner,
Amazon.com: FiiO D3 (D03K) Digital to Analog Audio Converter With Micca 6ft Optical Toslink Cable - 192kHz/24bit Optical and Coaxial DAC: Electronics

 

Essentially this. So many dupe threads on this topic...

I would, however, suggest the Creative X-Fi Go! Pro ($25-$35) as the low-end option over the U3. Testing shows its frequency response is a good bit better and its lower output impendence makes it better suited for the sorts of headphones most around here will have.

 

A little offtopic, but how do you like the M50? They're on my short list of headphones, along with the Beyerdynamic Custom One's, Ultrasone H-FI 780's and the Sennheiser 558's.

 

The ATH-M50 are perfectly good cans, but at current Amazon prices, they're not AT ALL a good value. Out of those three, at current prices, definitely get the HFI-780. Even if the M50 were down to $111 again (EDIT: the M50S, the straight-cord version, is), I'd probably still recommend the 780s. Ultrasone cans are awesome (currently own HFI-700, planning to upgrade to PRO 900).

 

Maybe for cheap gaming; Creative X-Fi Go Pro.

For cheap music, maybe; Asus xonar USB.

And for the best of the best on music, any good USB DAC (however probably most don't have gaming functions)...
Keep Cool

 

For gaming I got the scout 3d usb, since I only use a 2.1 set.

 

can anyone recommend a 7.1 external sound card over amazon , i asked this so many times but strangely i never get an answer?

 

Surround sound from stereo speakers / headphones seemed questionable to me so I went for the FIIO E17. It's very impressive.

 

Surround sound is good from real speakers, if we're talking the gimmicky 7 drivers in a headset type of ones then no, it's crap.

Dolby Headphone is amazing for games, it really opens up the soundstage and lets you hear where people are in relation to yourself, that's my only gripe with the E17, is that it doesn't offer dolby headphone.

 

I hate those crap Virtual 3D... Don't know why everyone even use it to sell... (like, Buy our new soundcard, 7.1 Virtual)...


Virtual 3D doesn't make any difference to 3D sound. All it does is probably add more distortion by adding refractions to the sound, that aren't even there, kinda echos...

So you will never hear the music as it's supposed to be heard.


Real 3D at least on my room, doesnt sound nothing like those Virtual 3D sounds... They don't have that echo, and the music still sounds pretty normal, but there's just sound coming from everywere.

Then in a game, if something appears from front right, I can really hear the sound coming from just that place and not a fake way to try to make u feel like the sound comes from there, but it's always coming from the same side.


ps: Also the real 3D from 5.1\7.1 sound quality depends a lot on your room, so on some rooms like mine, there's no echos at all, like what virtual sound sounds like.
Keep Cool

 

vantec 7.1 usb sound card

i'm a self-described quasi-audiophile (to the extent that i can appreciate production value), listen to my music lossless/uncompressed whenever possible, dabble in music production, and use this cheapo sound card. the amp is plenty fine--definitely outperforms my 9150's on-board sound by a lot. i don't have many--well, any other DACs to compare it to, but i don't think i'd be hearing much of a difference unless i spent at least $300 more on my speaker or headphone setup. (for headphones i use akg k-518s and i own a logitech x-530 system that continues to impress me seven years later.)

 

Outperforming the internal sound is easy, but if one's going to spend money, it's really best to go for something... higher-quality, if one can afford it. The X-Fi Pro would better serve a 7.1 output. On a tight budget with a requirement for 7.1, the Vantec card will work, and with low-end speakers, one won't notice the difference (save lacking the higher-end 3D positional audio engine support). If you're ever looking for speaker or headphone upgrades (you don't need to spend $300 to get an upgrade, $150-$200 would take you right up), let us know and we'd be happy to recommend some - the X-530 are perfectly decent, just low-end. Nice for the price.

 

might i ask what you listen to and on/with? the x-fi pro is the same price and has less i/o. on my budget $150-$200 is $200-$300, and i probably still wouldn't achieve the cost/performance i'd be looking for.



_____
EDIT: i can't even find this x-fi pro 7.1 external card, so i suppose i don't actually know if it's the same price. i thought you meant the x-fi go! (the little usb key-like one), which is the same price. maybe you mean the x-fi pro elite? but that's 5.1... regardless, vantec is creative is soundblaster is logitech is turtle beach is razer etc. imo.

 

Compared to the Sager headphone audio quality, the X-Fi Go! Pro is luxurious. The little thing has brought so much life to my music and gaming audio for so little a price. No issues with it so far, either.

One member I talked with on head-fi.org compared the X-Fi Go! Pro to the Fiio E10 and said the audio coming from the X-Fi is just as good if not better: Headphones with X-Fi Go! impedance?
Read the last post. People make the Go! Pro to be a compromise device, but it really is a steal ($35 on amazon).

The Vantec looks like a great deal for the options it has, though. It is larger, however.

 

Not to clued up on this subject but does X-Fi Go Pro work with a headset?

 

It does. It has a mic in and a headphone/speaker out.

 

Nice discussion on head-fi. You mentionned 20 Ohm output impedance of standard realtek. I could be wrong, but on P-series, I thought I saw a series resistor of 75 Ohm on each output line at one point which would put the output impedance more in the order of 100 Ohm if the chipset itself has a 20 Ohm impedance... I guess someone would have to test it to be sure?

 

Asus Xonar U3 - FTW, works awesome with my Microlab Solo 6C + Sennheiser HD 380 Pro!

 

I saw many people face the hissing sound/buzz noise issue when using Creative SB xi-fi go pro, include me . Did you face the same problem ?

 

Yes, there is a bit of hissing with some audio. Not audible at idle or with Windows Media Player but with YouTube it is more audible, but far from annoying.

 

Ultrasone HFI-700 (predecessor to HFI-780) via Fiio E10. I've used X-Fi products in the past. My HTPC has a set of Pioneer SP-BS21-LR attached to a Topping TP20 MKII amp connected to integrated audio (which is plenty adequate on my Asus P7H55-M/CSM mobo).

Yes, and no. I would agree that most of them are the same, but "Sound Blaster" is just a Creative series moniker (which is applied to essentially all of their audio devices), and Creative/Asus rise above the other consumer sound cards, none of which - in USB models - get near a real DAC beyond a certain point. The desktop Xonar cards are quite good.

Anything is. (See the graphs I posted in my "I got my NP9170" thread.)

That's his opinion. The E10 isn't for everyone - I've said repeatedly that if you don't have the headphones to match (the HD201 do not, and with their modest price, I can see why you'd dislike a $65 DAC just to solve integrated audio deficiencies), you'll see zero difference between the Go Pro and the E10. There will be users who prefer one over the other, either way. I rely on the majority opinion - that when buying for quality, there's no substitute for a real DAC - my own use of the E10 vs. Creative products, and objective testing.

 

The Creative X-Fi Go! Pro is a good option for cheap.

 

K0nane, I am not trying to cause an argument here, but realize that particular person owns the Sennheiser HD 580. Those are very high quality headphones. It is still his opinion of course, but it shows how strong the X-Fi is. I still respect the fact that you have more experience with this equipment, and I believe the E10 is still a really good DAC for its price, with good tuning options and more power for higher end headphones.

By the way, nice graph. That is HUGE bass rolloff.

 

I acknowledge what that person has (the 580 aren't exactly the HD600 or HD595, but they are good-quality). You'll notice I recommend the Go Pro to anyone who doesn't want to spend for the E10.

The bass rolloff is stupidly bad. I'd quite like to see Clevo or Sager address it. Sager would be better, being US-based, as I have the tendency to find the highest levels of companies who cause problems... (If you happen to know anyone having issues with MSI support, PM me for the extension number of the head of tech support and info on how to get to his boss, the director of the US branch.)

 

Clevo designed it all, so Sager has nothing to do with it.

 

Clevo designed it, but Sager is one of their largest-volume (if not THE largest-volume) customer. They have the power to reach levels of Clevo others wouldn't.

 

if you think you're aurally experiencing anything with your $65 E10 that i'm not with my $25 vantec, you've been sold a $40 bill my friend. on my budget what i own sounds just as good as everything else in its non-hifi class (i.e. everything mentioned in this thread thus far). not to mention that the poster i was responding to, chuckles87, asked for a 7.1 card.

check out the first reply to tranta's head-fi thread too. i'd say that's true even with processing/equalization.

 

I'm a newbie to these sound cards. I have the Astro A40s gaming headset. They're 7.1, so if I plug them into the laptop WITHOUT the sound card, I won't be getting their fullest potential? But if I plug them into the Xi-Fi Pro, the sound from the headphones will be much better?

 

it should be considered false advertising for gaming headset manufacturers to plainly claim 7.1 surround sound capability (save for maybe the razer tiamats). meinkraft, when you plug your "7.1" headset into your computer, any surround-sound signals played back on the headset are given a virtual-surround effect using dolby processing/compression/transcoding technologies. (see dolby digital.) for everything that gaming headsets offer, surround sound is not one of them. if you wanna talk about HRTF, that's a different discussion.

 

We have different outputs. Let's leave it there.

 

but i listen to 320s, man!

 

What you're playing would be the input (to the input?).

 

Just wondering, does the X-Fi Go! Pro support 2.1 sound?

 

I have a line 6 kb37...


...but you guys might want to check the ux2. Never know when you might want to start doing podcasts and whatnot.

Lol, doesn't everything support 2.1??

 

I have no idea, but if that is the case, I guess I can't go wrong... :thumbsup:

 

Maybe someone in this thread can help me.

I just bought a pair of mmx 300 headphones for gaming on my soon to be delivered P150EM. Obviously everyone is of the opinion that this laptops internal soundcard sucks big time. I've read over many of these audio solution threads regarding my laptop and I'm still confused. What do need to get to make the sound coming through these headphones good enough to justify the cost of them? I have maybe a $100 budget. Thanks if you can provide insight.

 

$100 is enough to get a fairly good USB DAC. And honestly, pretty much choice you have is an improvement over the stock soundcard. Just look back in the old replies and find one in your budget.

As for the higher end ones, I have heard that the Dragonfly is a really good DAC, although $250.

 

Hi guys, have ordered my laptop an I will be getting the X-Fi Go! Pro but what would be a good cheap set of headphones with mic for gaming?

 

Thanks physib, I wish I could afford that Dragonfly but it's a bit more than what I want to spend. Maybe the E10 I see mentioned all the time will be my best bet.

@JustT, What's your budget? Cheap can be subjective. If your talking about under $100, through my research I would probably go with the Siberia V2 or Logitech G35/930. if your willing to have a clip on mic then I've heard some good things about the AD700 and it's fairly cheap.