[TimS]

http://www.digit-life.com/articles/extigy/

In December I'll be on vacation for quite some time. I'll take my Dell Inspiron Notebook and my Corda-HA1/HD-600 with me. The problem is that the integrated soundcard in my Dell sounds far worse than my Audigy. Since my company can get all Creative products relatively cheap (and the Extigy isn't that expensive anyway...) I thought of getting an USB Extigy for my notebook. AFAIK this should sound at least as good as the Audigy. Maybe even better cause there's no interference/noise problems coming from the PC itself. So maybe this could even replace the Audigy in my home system ? What do you guys think ?

greetings,
Tim

 

[lan]

There are quite a few USB products to choose from. I chose the the Maudio Sonica because it's small and portable and 24/96:

http://m-audio.com/products/consumer/index.php

I've tried it with my MG Head OTL and HD580 and it's pretty good.

Here's a list of other USB options:
- Onkyo SE-U55
- Xitel HiFi-Link
- Audiotrack Maya 5.1
- Audiotrack Maya 7.1
- ESI Gigaport AG 7.1

PCCard one:
Echo Indigo (this is another 24/96 one)

 

[DarkWolf]

I've heard some not so good things about it. If there is anyway you can get your note book to cough up a digital stream, you would be better off with some sort of good quality external DAC. But that probably won't happen, so I guess it's safe to assume that the extigy will be better than your laptop's sound card... Hopefuly you can get the thing pretty cheap though.

Edit* Well, while i was distracted between writing my post and posting it, Ian has found what looks like a much nicer product than the extigy. I really don't like creative's stuff and this looks like an exelent way out.

BTW, how do you like your HA-1 and HD600? I'm pretty sure I'll get 590s and I'm thinking about the HA-1 for later. I'm quite interested in cross-feed and Jan's version looks quite nice. How is it? Thanks.

 

[Wodgy]

If sound quality is your top priority, you should go for the M-Audio Sonica. If game playing is your top priority, go for the Extigy. Avoid the Xitel Hi-Fi Link; it is inferior to the other two.

 

[TimS]

Thanks for all your suggestions, I'll have a look

DarkWolf:
My notebook has in fact a digital out, I actually never thought about using an external DAC. How much does the sound quality still depend on the soundcard ? Would the quality of my Audigy also increase when using it with the external DAC ?

Oh, and who likes Creative's stuff Weather you ask computer geeks or audiophiles, you always get an "ughhh Creative" reply. Having a good amount of troubles with their products myself, I can understand that to some degree.

I really like the HD-600 and the HA-1. I had the HD-570 before and I was being told that the 590 is a better 570 like the 600 is a better 580 and that 590 and 600 don't have too much in common despite their close model numbers. So I can only estimate how the 590 will sound cause it should be closer to the 570 than to the 600. And I can say that I really absolutely prefer the 600 (no suprise...). The 570 is a bit too high and is seriously lacking soundstage. Sounds a bit muddy / thin, too. And lacks that ultra low bass extension. Connecting them directly to my Audigy doesn't reveal that too much, but on the Corda it's just painfully obvious. I would go for the HD-600 if you plan on getting a nice amp like the Corda. If you just want to connect to some soundcard or portable CD player, the difference probably won't be as large. The crossfeed is really good. It's way more subtle and neutral than all the software simulations I've heard. It's very nice to have multiple levels of crossfeed.

greetings,
Tim

 

[lan]

You could get an external DAC also. They will generally be more expensive. In the US, an ART DI/O is like $120 at fullcompass.com. It has a RCA digital connection so if you need optical, you'd have to look for something else or get a convertor. There are many fans of this thing. I have one also and it's pretty sweet. Other external DACs are more $$$.

You could use it w/ your Audigy also and it would increase sound quality.