The Latest in External Sound Cards?

I have been investigating an alternative to my sub-par laptop sound capabilities.

My interest is to hook it up to a 5.1+ sound system and truly take advantage of the latest in sound - DVD, BluRay, Games, Music, Audio.

Instead of just hooking my laptop to the system with an auxiliary cable which results in only stereo sound, I have come across devices known as USB Sound Cards such as:

Creative Audigy 2 NX, Hercules Muse Pocket, and others.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/listen-through-usb,review-231.html

BUT, these devices are over EIGHT years old and after researching the items, the Audigy2 NX while excellent in quality, has major problems in regards to lifespan, CPU hogg, and hissing noise.

Does anyone have any suggestions on the latest USB Sound Cards?

OR maybe there is an altogether better device in hooking up a laptop to a 5.1 + system ~ taking full advantage of the sound capabilities of the audio played by the computer?

PS: Sorry about my English, it will hopefully improve

Thank You

 

What device do you have? I believe many laptops, with the correct connection, will give 5.1.

 

http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/audio-advantage-srm/home.aspx

I have their Advantage Micro as a back-up USB Audiocard, very sturdy and has yet to flake out on me on any system, providing better sound quality than the Creative solutions. This bigger brother should serve you well. =]

 

gengerald you mention,

"What device do you have? I believe many laptops, with the correct connection, will give 5.1."

I currently have a DELL Inspiron 6000, thank you for your help. I of course do not want to simply simulate 5.1 but if a file has a Dobly Digital/THX component, the purpose is to get the capability to hear it ~ "as it was intended".

To MaloS,

Thank you for the suggestion, very interesting, how is the microphone and the Line-In quality? - very cool and handy feature for archiving old cassettes. Also, I just noticed when doing a search, the criticism - "lots of wires" comes up, can you comment on this?

 

I am not very familiar with using fine parts of it (microphone and such), thus I cannot comment on the quality directly. I can produce speculation - reviews of it are positive and TBAAM products that I did use all perform all of their functions very well. Up to you how to judge this, but if I was in your position I'd actually grab this thing.

The case with the wires - I don't think it is lots of wires at all. If you were to run 5.1 - you are looking at USB cable, the special cable they use to split the small jack into 5.1 (this is done with a multi-pin connector due to limited real estate on the device itself), and the splitter is then connected to your speakers...no mess at all, it will actually look pretty linear.

Obviously you will have lots of issue with wires if you plug everything at once - but that is honestly to be expected with any piece of equipment. I use E-MU 1616 interface at home, and sometimes I get so much plugged into it, it looks like a torture device, or one of those robotic hunters from Matrix...

 

You mention,

"the special cable they use to split the small jack into 5.1 (this is done with a multi-pin connector due to limited real estate on the device itself), and the splitter is then connected to your speakers"

the splitter which you speak of, does not diminish the quality or "alter" the audio stream, correct?

Sounds like a really good product, read the huge review at

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/tb_srm/

Still, if anyone wants to add their recommendation or advice, I'd love to hear it as well.

Thank You

 

I have recently bought the Creative Sound Blaster external USB. for my 4 point system. Works well, sound great, no fuss

 

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=16642
doesnt get better than this

 

My experiences with Creative's sound cards have been disappointing, they just don't produce good enough sound quality. I'd go with the turtle beach, I've heard alot of good about them.

 

Thanks for the suggestion e6600, noticed something interesting about it - hope someone can answer this:

See here,

http://images.americas.creative.com/images/products/large/16642.png

in the photo you will notice "Speaker Docking Module connector", which one will have to buy additionally here:

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=16&product=16741

BUT, when looking at the Audio Advantage SRM device, there is no "Speaker Docking Module connector", but instead a:

http://www.turtlebeach.com/Portals/0/images/Products/AA_SRM/contents/srm_Items.jpg

MINI DIN-9 Connector that is split into a Green (front), Orange (C/S), Black (rear) = 5.1 channel speaker cable

The fact sheet for AA SMA device states "5.1 Channel Speaker Cable: Use this to connect a 5.1 analog speaker system"
http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/audio-advantage-srm/whatdoiget.aspx

EDIT: I guess I will use the "Optical S/PDIF Adapters" to hook it up to a digital speaker system.

Does one (docking module) vs another (Optical S/PDIF) affect the final result? Whats the difference?

Sorry for all the questions, thank you so much for helping me out!

 

you are talking about Creative? never buy their products... they are all sub-standard quality.

checkout how they responded to my mail :

Mail:

Dear __________

Thank you for replying to Creative Customer Support.

As regards to your enquiry,I understand your concern over the durabilty of our HQ-1400 head phones after you saw that both yours and the one at the it show were both damaged by the same way.

However, I would like to guarantee you that all Creative products are designed for standard consumer usage and therefore the durabilty of each product depends on how well the customer is able to maintain it.

Your genuine concern is still appreciated.

In case if you need any clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Do email back on the status concerning the issue so that I can assist you further.

Please retain all the previous correspondence when replying to this email.

Thank you.

Best Regards,
Mohaan
Customer Support Services
Creative Labs Asia

To provide feedback on your "Creative Experience" please click on the following link:
http://asia.creative.com/contactus/mailto/sitefeedback.asp

Asia Site: http://asia.creative.com/
Support Site: http://asia.creative.com/support/custsup/welcomets.asp
KB Site: http://asia.creative.com/support/kb/

==========
DISCLAIMER
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This email is for the sole use of Creative's intended recipient and is not to be forwarded or copied to others. Any review, copying or distribution of this email or any attachments by others is strictly prohibited. If you are not Creative's intended recipient, please inform Creative immediately by responding to this email and thereafter permanently delete the original and any copies of this email together with any attachments. Thank you.

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
This mail originated from: http://sg.creative.com/support/custserv/form1.asp


Name : ******
Email : ******@gmail.com
Country : Singapore
Description of Issue : My recently bought HQ-1400's headclip broke under normal usage.
I also went to IT show & the same model was also Broke there.

This model has a design issue & the headband easily snaps.

Pls tell me what Creative can do about it?


They are infact Blaming me . I have used Sony neckband headphones & they dont break even when u bend them & these were normal headphones under normal usage & still broke.

 

I highly doubt you will have equipment resolving enough to show the issues with this product. A 5.1 set substantially clean enough to show the effects of this cable will be so expensive that you might as well buy a Grace m906 to go with it ($6000).

 

"However, I would like to guarantee you that all Creative products are designed for standard consumer usage and therefore the durabilty of each product depends on how well the customer is able to maintain it."

That horrible, maybe it was an isolated incident, maybe not. In regards to my personal history with Creative is that they are not worth all the hours of hassle and problems.

 

You mean, it won't make a difference, right?

 

In the next mail they are saying even with warranty they wont do anything..
They ll charge $50 for repaird (which is more than the price of headphones itself)

 

Never had luck with headphones either, whether its the cord or the cloth around the ear piece - they simply don't last long.

 

I strongly recommend the "off-brand" Alessandro MS-1's (equivalent to Grado SR-80 or better), cost about 120 US dollars, but extremely durable, not to mention incredible-sounding (I'm a musician by hobby, and run a quasi-pro home studio).

As for external sound cards, I used the M-Audio FireWire Audiophile with my laptop at first (who wants a Creative card?? They're still pricey too.), but then just onboard, since I only used the laptop for playing old games after a while.

But, I'd recommend a PCMCIA solution such as the Echo Indigo IO, seemed pretty excellent, not too pricey these days.

If your laptop is stationary, then I'd go for a card like the M-Audio. If it's a 'mobile' one, I'd go PCMCIA, while avoiding Creative like the plague- unless you're just gaming, when Creative can have its' upsides.

What's that saying- "It all depends"

- Spike

 

Creative is a n00b brand.. i realised this the harsh way.. shudnt have bought their headphones.
All overpriced & all are not even close to what Sony & Sennheiser offer