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    5.1 sound with Inspiron 9400

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by conquerearth, Feb 14, 2006.

  1. conquerearth

    conquerearth Newbie

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    Hi
    I'd like to connect my 5.1 speakers to my 9400. does anyone know if it supports 5.1 sound using this docking station:

    http://www.dell.kensington.com/html/6461.html

    OR
    do i need an external USB sound card - which i'd rather not buy, because theycan heavily impact gaming performance.

    OR
    Is there another way?

    Thanks guys (and girls!).
     
    conquerearth, Feb 14, 2006
    #1
  2. Jason

    Jason Overclocker NBR Reviewer

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    It does support 5.1 sound, but I'm not sure if it supports true 5.1 surround sound. It has the 3 audio outputs that a 5.1 system needs. But if you don't care for true surround sound and just want sound comming out of all 5 speakers at the same time, then you can buy a splitter that convirts 3, 1/8" plugs into 1, 1/8" plug that you can just plug in the regular output on your laptop. One of those splitters came with my speaker system. But I usually just use my 5.1 sound card for the speakers instead.
     
    Jason, Feb 14, 2006
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  3. conquerearth

    conquerearth Newbie

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    It has to be true surround sound.. Theres nothing like hearing things jump at you from behind in FEAR. And none of that "simulated 3d sound" either, its just not the same!
     
    conquerearth, Feb 14, 2006
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  4. JrunkinDuncan

    JrunkinDuncan Notebook Geek

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    If you don't mind shelling out aprox 99 bucks you can get the Audigy ZS2 Notebook. It isn't USB it's PCMCIA and it's supposed to help out your CPU as far as taking the sound load off of it, and from what I hear sounds absolutely Spectacular!
     
    JrunkinDuncan, Feb 14, 2006
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  5. Geth.Who

    Geth.Who Notebook Enthusiast

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    Unforunately, the Audigy ZS2 is PCMCIA, and the I9400 has ExpressCard, and no PCMCIA.

    Apparently, there's very little out there at the moment in terms of ExpressCard cards, and no-one (that I've heard of) has found a sounds card yet. (I thought I had with the E-Mu 1616m, but was later dis-abused of the notion).

    In the (hopefully near) future, there should be more and more ExpressCard options, since it is apparently the way forward, but we'll have to see...
     
    Geth.Who, Feb 14, 2006
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  6. Garbuckle

    Garbuckle Notebook Consultant

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    My i9400 came with a little svideo "dongle" that converts the svideo-only output into an svideo, composite and coaxial digital output. I haven't tried it yet as I don't have any equipment with a coaxial input, but it says in the specs that it supports true 5.1. No one else has said if theirs came with the dongle, so it could be just because I have MCE, or because I ordered the remote for MCE (but no tuner).

    At the moment, I use a USB Soundblaster Live 24-bit, with 7.1 speakers, and it does the trick quite well.

    EDIT: The dock would seem to support 5.1 just fine (just like any usb soundcard would) - no clue if you'd get any performance hit using it, tho.
     
    Garbuckle, Feb 14, 2006
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