Laptop - What to use to get digital audio out? (Creative card = bad news)

[mademperor]

So, I have a modern laptop with Express Card out. I purchased a Creative Sound Blaster Expresscard on amazon...... Almost ALL companies selling this product are doing so under the info for the OLD Expresscard.

They sent me the "new" version of the card... The new version is NOT OFFICIALLY SUPPORT BY CREATIVE *** YET*****
and it does NOT have optical In or Out like the old version

I'd like to take this time to Say SCREW you Creative!

^ They released a product do distributors and don't acknowledge it's even their product and refused to support it until it's officially launched....\

The old version is apparently impossible to get.

Cliff Notes - DO NOT BUY CREATIVE PRODUCTS IMO


Now, since this card is junk.

What can I use to get DIGITAL Sound out of my computer in the form of Toslink out to my Home Theater Receiver?

 

[ericj]

Well, in the cheap & easy category there's the TBAAM. Just a usb stick. Works with the built-in os drivers.

 

[olblueyez]

External Dac. USB or optical. The new Cambridge Audio DacMagic looks very interesting. Also look for the threads on "All the Dac's money can buy".

 

[Ocean7]

Check out item # 320292222169 on eBay. I have heard some good things about it here on head-fi.

 

[breakfastchef]

If you want to convert a USB to Toslink, the Behringer UCA-202 does it for $30.

 

[mademperor]

I just bought a replacement unit...

M-Audio Transit -- Here's the deal breaker
I bought it as part of the "Groovelab" kit on ebay for $49 instead of $80 on ebay.. AND it comes with extra stuff.

I called up M-Audio support and they said the Transport stand alone & Bundled one are the exact same

I hope I did good

-> and it works out better then the Creative Sound Blaster -> Optical out would have sounded anyways I hope.

Link to $49 -
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=130253745121

 

[Ocean7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mademperor /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just bought a replacement unit... M-Audio Transit -- Here's the deal breaker I bought it as part of the "Groovelab" kit on ebay for $49 instead of $80 on ebay.. AND it comes with extra stuff. I called up M-Audio support and they said the Transport stand alone & Bundled one are the exact same I hope I did good -> and it works out better then the Creative Sound Blaster -> Optical out would have sounded anyways I hope. Link to $49 - M-AUDIO GROOVELAB GROOVE LAB USB TRANSIT & PHONES NEW! - eBay (item 130253745121 end time Sep-18-08 18:24:16 PDT)

Nice! Thanks for the tip

 

[Infoseeker]

Creative's crystalizer effect is nice thoguh, and its Cm-3d thing.

If you want another option. I've been hearing great thigns about the ASUS Xonar U1 External USB Audio Station. It has Dolby headphone which can mimic creative's headphone 3d effect; which is important for me....but what worries me are that these sound too good to be true; and I say that seriously.

Here's some reviews:
http://www.futurelooks.com/asus-xona...tation-review/
http://www.everythingusb.com/asus_xo...ard_13710.html
http://aphnetworks.com/reviews/asus_xonar_u1

 

[mademperor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Infoseeker /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you want another option. I've been hearing great thigns about the ASUS Xonar U1 External USB Audio Station.

That's an interesting sound card....

Couple of questions if someone could answer

1. The Xonar Resamples to 48k (to the best of my knowledge) How important is this?

2. The Xonar is a real sound card and the M-Audio is a pass through.... would the Xonar be alot better for movies and games like WoW ect?

3. Hardest Question I guess... Think the headphone amp is better then that in my Home receiver? (TX-DS797 - $800 5 years ago)

 

[mademperor]

ttt

 

[E.B.M.Head]

Resampling 44.1 kHz to 48 kHz is a bad thing. This introduces aliasing artefacts. If you care about your sound quality you should avoid such card and better pick one that supports 44.1 kHz nativ.
Someone suggested a Behringer card. Behringer is a cheap brand thats offers no top gear, but the price/performance ratio is absolutely great. If you are low on money, then I would check them out if they fullfill your needs. You usually can safe a lot of money with Behringer gear. If money is no matter then I would look at some stuff that is made by pro audio companies like EMU (belongs to Creative since lots of years, but the stuff is much better as it's not made for gamers, but for musicians), M-Audio (ex-Midiman, famous for it's quality but stil payable gear) or Edirol (second brand of Roland). You can call me animal names, but IMHO soundcards and DACs from obscure "audiophile" brands are usually way overpriced.

 

[Al4x]

i was eyeing up the creative express sound card

as of now im using the built in one, which is surely poo

probably the best bang for buck step i can do,

would like something small [ideally express card], and theres the problem

 

[Infoseeker]

I'm using the External X-fi Surround 5.1 and am watching some hi-def anime series, and for some reason I'm getting a slight audio delay during my playback. The lip-synching is off, and this is not because of my video-hardware.
Thing works like a charm, drivers-wise. I got 64-bit Vista and nothing went wrong in installation. Just I got a slight chinese-english movie dub lip-synching.
Reason I chose this sound card because it has Creative's new alchemy system to go around Vista's directsound change.
I just got it today, so I'll have to look for new drivers and hope it sovles this.

Anyone know what the difference betwen the X-fi Surround 5.1 and the Xmod is?

 

[Al4x]

im looking for something that will make a big difference from what i have now which is....

says something generic lol