[lmm]

UPDATE

I actually picked up the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage this weekend.

I don't hear a huge difference between it and the headphone out, but I think that might be because the laptop is a ThinkPad and they have famously decent analog outs. Anyway, for $30 it's no big deal to test out. I might also notice an improvement when I run it to a better amp.

 

[PFRfan]

I think the TBAA is a pretty good little sound card. It's actually pretty comparable to my Indigo IO, but something went wrong with mine so that now it pops and cracks frequently - made it unusable.

BTW - SockMan!, how come lmm has your avatar???

 

[tschanrm]

lmm,

what is your price range? If it is $500 I would give a 1616m a serious look. It is a pcmcia cardbus and external box combo, and the cardbus can be used on its own. The cardbus has headphone/line out using ak4396 dac, while the external box has the same chips the 1820m and the 1212m have, cs4398.

A cheaper alternative might be the audigy zs notebook. It would probably be an improvement over the TBAA. Plus the audigy zs notebook can output bit-perfect s/pdif optical at 44.1, so you can add a better dac later if you want. You can pick one up for around $80 on ebay.