[Justice Strike]

I'm planning on leaving the country for a year or so. This has put some considerable limits on the stuff i can buy and use. I've put everything i want (hifi wise) on hold as i couldn't take it with me anyway.

however i do want to have some pleasure of listening to my music. Most likely a (new) laptop is going to be my new source and my sa-6 with wireless unit (or wired), a speakerset and perhaps a headphone is going to be the things i will use to listen.

To get a long story short... i'm perhaps a bit oversensitive for sound. My cirrent laptop (dell d830) and my phone (sony p1i) both have an output that is too loud. Even on the lowest volume setting I wished they would go lower, sometimes it even feels like it's almost hurting...

Given that fact, it's also often the case that with the lowest volume setting, the signal to noise is not that favourable. I often hear a lot of static and perhaps some emf when using my laptop.

so basicly, what would be the way to go? getting a new soundcard i guess... and if that's the case i'd rather have an express card then an usb card. What are my options?

next the speakers and the headphone. What are the recommendations... i used to have a sony headphone which was quite expensive.... i loved it, I had it for a good amount of time before it broke. They don't sell that model anymore and I'd like to have a headphone again.. headphones just seemed better then my sa-6, and then i'm talking about the feel not the sound.

Lastly, what speakers can i buy at a reasonable price when i arrive at the place i want to be. It needs to be a step up from laptop speakers ofcourse

 

[Justice Strike]

ah,, come on. Somebody has to have some recommendation...

 

[Armaegis]

For express cards, you have the Echo Indigo DJx or Creative X-Fi Notebook. I personally prefer the Echo (and it isn't as loud as the Creative), but the Creative one has some wireless accessories you might want to look into. Either one should eliminate most of the noise. Running from a laptop, if the plug has a ground then simply unplug it or use a cheater plug (anything the removes the ground prong).

For headphones... well, there's a whole 'nuther forum for that. I'll let someone else tackle that one; just do some reading over at headphone.com and look at their wide range of reviews and articles.

For speakers, are you buying them there or bringing them with you? Cramming speakers is kind of heavy.

 

[Justice Strike]

well it's not going to be a creative. It's really got a lot of static. And i'm not really interested in the wireless option it sells.

the echo seems nice... but there must be more. I'd be willing to look at usb if it has an advantage. Actually i was thinking of an ec card that fit's inside the slot without something sticking out that much... if there is no possibility of that... i might as well consider usb.

as for speakers... i'm going to buy them there... but i was thinking, i could perhaps make them myself, but then again, i won't have any tools to make them over there.

 

[Justice Strike]

just one sound card? wow... there really is no market for it.