[wankski]

Hi guys,
 
looking for some guidance here.
 
my main concern is that i'm running off laptop audio for the most part, that is a realtec chip most likely... soon i will grab another dell laptop as an upgrade (mine is 4yo). It will have the sb-xfi soundcard update whatever that means, but best i can tell that still is limited to headphone out mic in outputs AFAIK... no optical out or anything like that...
 
or does the dell studio 15 with creative x-fi upgrade offer different outputs? doubt it.
 
Anyhow, i'm liking the idea of upgrading my laptop speakers... currently i run old school cambridge audio xps1600 4.1 system... right now i'm simply using an adaptor for the rear and front speakers and thats good enuff out of my lappie's h/p output.
 
Do like the idea of grabbing the logitec z-5500s tho... the have an optical in, so i'm guessing that means u can just use a toslink connector b/w them and the sb x-fi usb and achieve 5.1 output...
 
would that also hold true for the HD version? it makes no mention of surround capability... I mean a proper 5.1 is nice, but if it came to it, i'd make do with the z- 2300 2.1 
 
Now its a question of DACs... i'm assuming that one can't go wrong w/ comparing the x-fi usb to the onboard solutions, and at least its out of the laptop... I currently also have the uDac for headphone listening and tbh i didn't notice a lot of difference b/w them and the realtec in my laptop aside from background noise which is still a worthy improvement IMHO... but as for quality... meh... 
 
x-fi usb is here: http://au.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=17751&nav=1
 
or the HD version here: http://www.vortez.co.uk/contentteller/articles_pages/creative_sound_blaster_x_fi_hd_review,2.html
 
now, compared to the gamma 2 i'm losing out on what exactly? according to creative the x-fi usb is capable of 24bit input? true story? I'm pretty sure the gamma2, although it has an optical out, is only capable of 2 ch out...
 
any opinions/comments on the above plan?
 
also consider price... i can grab the x-fi usb for like 80 bucks and it for sure will support 5.1.... the gamma looks like a 200USD+ cost to build at this point.... and i haven't been blown away by the uDAC that's for sure... i'd be pissed if i built the gamma2 and found no real diffference...
 
for h/p these would be plugged into my amb m3 amp... the x-fi usb is nice as it has 2 rcas for outputs which will plug nicely into my amp, leaving the toslink for the z-5500s iffin' i get them...
 
or for predominatly music movies do u ppl rekon there are better laptop audio solutions? I can grab the 5500s for like $350 locally and i've heard good things about them... for that price or more i could probably make a good pair of bookshelf speakers and a decent enuff amp for them...in order words do u think for music (not games) a home threatre system would be higher quality and better sounding?
 
for example i could combine a sherwood 5.1 receiver for $220 and nice bookshelf speakers for another $100. I could start with just the 2 speakers to begin with... it has optical in and i think HDMI connections too... I'm thinking a proper receiver would have better sound quality than an integrated logitech (gamer) solution? it also has more room to upgrade in the future eg, add more speakers and an independant sub?
 
I'm thinking i could connect the laptop to the receiver using the HDMI in connection, and then using thhe monitor RCA outs, connect these to my m3 amp for headphone listening... It of course has proper screw in connections for the 5.1 channels.
 
sherwood: http://www.sherwoodamerica.com/site/service/manual/RD-6513.pdf
 
what do you rekon about all this?
 
 
 
thanks!
 
joe

 

[mrnoodle]

 
Quote:

 It will have the sb-xfi soundcard update whatever that means,

 
It's X-Fi MB which is OEM solution offered by creative which provides X-Fi fuctionality to onboard audio codec via software driver.
There is no creative audio chip in it. It's just ordinary onboard codec.

 

[wankski]

thanks for that, that does make sense.... i'm guessing 8bucks for the option is not worth it given i don't game?
 
i'm starting to think more and more that a receiver is the go, it eliminates the soundcard question via the HDMI port.. or if that wont play my mp3s then i'd have to grab a optical out usb thingy for a few bucks...