Aaron Friedman
100+ Head-Fier
For around $60 the Creative X-Fi 5.1 surround USB exterior card is the best Dac/Headphone amplifier for notebooks money can buy. I use it with my Yuin PK1 headphones.
I have compared it with my E-MU 1616M. Yes the 1616m has nearly 120db compared with the X-Fi 100db sound to noise ratio. It is cleaner with a bit more headroom and easier presentation. The 1616M costs $450 or 8 times that of the XFi-5.1 and is not really portable. The XF-I sounds best with either the Creative music player that comes with the unit or Media Center if you like a warmer presentation. The X-Fi has many effects which are available. I use it with all effects disabled.
I got to it because I wanted something that is cleaner than the built in sound card and headphone amplifier of my laptop. It is a big step above my computers built in Dac/Headphone amp. Simply the hash associated with the analog signal in a laptop is gone.
I have compared it with my E-MU 1616M. Yes the 1616m has nearly 120db compared with the X-Fi 100db sound to noise ratio. It is cleaner with a bit more headroom and easier presentation. The 1616M costs $450 or 8 times that of the XFi-5.1 and is not really portable. The XF-I sounds best with either the Creative music player that comes with the unit or Media Center if you like a warmer presentation. The X-Fi has many effects which are available. I use it with all effects disabled.
I got to it because I wanted something that is cleaner than the built in sound card and headphone amplifier of my laptop. It is a big step above my computers built in Dac/Headphone amp. Simply the hash associated with the analog signal in a laptop is gone.
