Creative X-Fi Notebook, Is it worth it?

[shmoreblore2009]

My apologies in advance if this question has already been asked ten thousand times over, but in short, I gave a look into this laptop sound card and for the greater part, it hasn't been getting good reviews around the global neighborhood... So from you guys and dolls, the REAL experts at head-fi:

- For someone who just bought a pair of M50s which will be used for mainly music listening (Anything from Thrash Metal to Fusion), video gaming, and a bit of producing/mixing my own tracks and others', would getting this sound card be a better choice than getting the Fiio E5 mini-amp? Or is it the other way around? Or maybe both deliver the best performance.

For reference, my integrated audio is the Realtek ALC269 @ Intel 82801IB on an ICH9 platform.

 

[shmoreblore2009]

bump

 

[nullstring]

take a look at this thread.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/ch...erious-197241/

It would definitely be worth getting one of those.
Make sure that you can a C-media one though.. even if the usb stick looks the same.. it doesn't mean it is.

It's suppose to be essentially the same as this turtle beach stick
Turtle Beach PC Sound Card - Audio Advantage Micro

I don't know anything about the M50's but you could easily buy both a fiio and one of those sound "cards" at those prices.

 

[shmoreblore2009]

the thing is, I don't have an old laptop - My model is the Killer Notebooks Nagamaki Based off the OCZ W840DI Chassis

Link: Killer Notebooks - the Nagamaki

So I'm not sure if a sound stick that cheap would be an improvement over my integrated one so much. Secondly, I'm still waiting for the headphones to come in from the US which won't be until at least the end of next week, so I haven't tried them out yet on this laptop. When I do, I guess I'll come back to you and tell you what's really going on...

 

[Skunkworks]

I have the X-fi notebook myself and it is a lot better than the onboard realtek sound. I think it's worth it, got mine from ebay pretty cheap.

 

[zergslayer69]

I dunno, I got an audigy for my laptop sometime ago, and I never really heard a difference....but then again I didn't really understand what "good" sound was at the time. So I suppose unless you're really looking for it, maybe the difference isn't too obvious.

 

[LeftyGorilla]

I had one and ended up selling it mostly because there was no driver support under linux.

If you're running Windows, it is a great little card. Lots of options out there, some may be less expensive. But this will not disappoint you.

 

[shmoreblore2009]

I guess I'll just have to wait and see...

 

[Bones13]

Nice notebook site.

I maxxed the thing out (quad core, crossfire, 8 gig RAM, SSD + 500 HD) for a $6000 laptop. I hope it plays your games, and cleans up after you.

Consider a USB DAC/AMP unit. There are many to choose from now, with all sorts of pricing.