Sound Blaster X-Fi Audio Coming to Notebooks

why doesnt anyone ship Turtle Beach Amigo or Callisto Home Theatre adapter
or anything like that to europe.

i was thinking of getting this creative thing, but with the optical 5.1 problems im not. Running vista.

i

 

Here's the Amigos I found in Europe (namely Germany, horribly overpriced when you also include the shipping costs).

http://www.musik-schmidt.de/osc-schmidt/catalog/turtlebeachamigoshowroommodell-p-18085.html
http://www.shop2rock.de/product_inf...Audio-Advantage-Amigo-USB-Audiointerface.html

Maybe these guys also have the SRM which includes connectors for analog 5.1-s.

You will stand a better chance finding the M-Audio Transit http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Transit-main.html , if you're willing to live with it being external and requiring yet another cable to carry around in your bag. It's also slightly bulkier than the equivalent TurtleBeach AudioAdvantage SRM. But much easier to find in Europe. Prices start at around 85EUR here in the Netherlands (I don't remember now if they include shipping or not). Search for it in your country.

Edit: Also take into account that most current notebook integrated audio is able to drive 5.1-s via the optical (SPDIF) output. That's output from the same jack as the analog headphones, you just need an adapter.

 

well, after alot of searching i found 2 places that ships to europe.

bhphotovideo.com (stupid me since ive bought photo stuff there before) uses ups worldwide

and provantage.com uses dhl.

the advantage micro was 60$ with shipping. Didnt get the amigo since the price was above customs free VAT list. It would have cost 100$ incl vat etc etc. Didnt think a internal speaker was worth that.

i have xps 1710 and 8600 dell laptops. i dont think xps 1710 have 5,1 out?


edit-

some say that theres dd\dts through the headphone jack since 1710 has SigmaTel High Definition Audio Codec. im now getting one 3.5 adapter thing just to check.

if thats true i can use the usb 5.1 card on dell 8600 and
use it on my other home system setup.

 

I like what I've been reading about their audio advantage srm. It comes with a three-3.5mm breakoutconnector for analog speakers as well as including two toslink to mini adapters for its digital in and outs + other misc cables for around $80.

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


You can also buy a more expensive package which includes their high-end surround headset along with the audio advantage srm.

I haven't ordered one yet since I've been blowing money on other hardware lately, but I am definitely interested.

I had false hope today when I notice a driver update for the x-fi express in the autoupdate list, but it didn't fix the spdif output problem - it was just a crystalizer tweak.

 

This is for the ExpressCard 54mm, correct? Does anyone know if there is an adapter for the ExpressCard 34mm to use this? I believe that the Dell XPS M1330 has an option to add this on but I believe it is a 34mm as well (I may be wrong)?

Also, does anyone know if it's available in the states yet, and also for the adapter for the dolby surround as well? I've only seen them both for sale in Europe so far.

Or is there another surround sound option available to us here that uses the 34mm (I'm previously a custom built desktop guy, just bought an SZ6 and wanted to keep the 5.1 system available for it, so I've never had to deal with an external card setup like this)? Thanks in advance.

 

Well, it's just me, but rather than buying:
1. A 34 -> 54 mm adapter.
2. The soundcard.
3. The 5.1 breakout box.

all separately, and having actually an external sound card (because being 54mm it will most certainly sit outside the body of the notebook),

why not buy something on USB that already includes the 5.1 breakout, does not need an adapter (so it's cheaper), and is of higher quality and not plagued by the bugs that you see popping up in this thread?

For instance, the Audio Advantage SRM.

 

The option the Dell has is Software. That's it. It can be used with any sound card.

 

Dell had this X-Fi Notebook card as an option instead of the Sound Blaster Audigy software. It's an additional $75 but I didn't know if they were actually delivering it with the laptop.

As far as the Audio Advantage SRM, where can I find some more info about it? Like I said, I really would like to have something to connect my laptop to my 5.1 system, and it can be external since it won't be travelling with me (it'll probably be even in conjunction with a docking station, so I'll have those usb's, etc. to use). Thanks guys.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see the hyperlink for the Turtle Beach website, lol. As far as using usb, I'm limited to two on the SZ6 unless I fork out $200+ for the docking station to get four, but I've already spent more than enough at the moment.

 

Now, as far as the PCMCIA / Audigy soundcards go, would it be worth my while chipping in for one of those - some claim it's just as good if not better at the moment? It does come with the 5.1/7.1 cable harness already (just like the Audio Advantage SRM) but isn't the X-Fi technology or the Creative software (and the Crystallizer? which I've heard is a big plus).

I haven't heard much about the Audio Advantage SRM, but it seems to be a decent product - does anyone have anymore information about it, or any other PCMCIA / USB 5.1 soundcard? It can be internal or external, doesn't matter to me.

 

Well you can always get a USB hub, doesn't take too much space and is especially convenient if you don't transport the notebook a lot.

I would agree that for those who do have a PCMCIA slot (check that you do on the notebook), the Audigy ZS is as far as quality goes at least as good a solution as the XFi. Factoring in the price, reasonable color, and the included 5.1 breaker, I would say it's a much better option.

Don't worry too much about the XFi and Crystallizer features. For one, the XFi for notebook does none of those things in hardware, because the DSP is an old and not so good one. So you aren't getting the quality that is being marketed, actually. I've also heard (from people who bought it, I did not experience this) that they "color" the sound, which personally I would dislike.

Look for similar threads (keywords external sound card) on the Aftermarket and User Upgrades forum -- or something like that.

 

I got this card two weeks ago along with the 5.1/7.1 adapter. Movies sound absolutely amazing in surround, but the problem that I am having is playing music. The bass constantly fluctuates up and down. So it's ok if I'm listening to Bach or Handel, but rock music gets annoying really quickly. Anyone else have this problem or know of a solution? It's not the speakers (they work fine with other sound sources). Also, I get this problem too when I listen to music with headphones plugged into the sound card.

 

Can't you disable the "crystallizer" effects or whatever they're called? Actually, try disabling any effects or equalizers, and see if you still have the issue.

 

That did it! All crystallizer crap, bass redirection, etc. is turned off and music sounds great.

 

Yep, like I said, not-so-good software sound processing.

 

Anyone know if the the EMU 1616M will come in ExpressCard as well? Same company (Creative bought EMU) so I thought maybe they'd come out with a new high end card too (better than the X-Fi). I asked the support people but they don't know (no surprise since the don't divulge such secrets). I've had the 1616M for 2 years. It's amazing.

And FYI, I bought the Duel Systems adapter to run the EMU 1616M (PCMCIA) on my new ASUS G2S' ExpressCard slot and it doesn't work... Warning to all those who try that. Support told me their engineers haven't found a solution with certain laptops and mine wasn't on their list - might be now though The adapter won't read any PCMCIA cards on my system...

a.

 

tag topic

 

Hello guys!
I've had the card for a few months, but it didn't quite work out with my vista so, when I put XP, I managed to install and actually hear stuff from the audio card. But now I'm having nasty issues: sound crackling from time to time, loss of bass and the only thing that fixes it up is plugging it out and in. The crackling is fixed by stopping the music and playing other sounds (like the build in sounds of the OS).
I haven't tried reinstalling, because I'm a lazy fart and don't want to deal with such bs anymore. So, if there are any ways to fix that, please pm me

 

K.. Read through all the posts and my main concern being quality of course. Next would be Volume! Currently have an Asus with Realtek HD Audio and I think its just the worst sound I've ever heard. Had the X-fi Xtreme Music in desktop but looking for the same I had but in a notebook. Also know that I'm not going to get that quality from this product but the Realtek actually makes my music sound very bad.

So how's the volume levels? Got the Realtek at 100% and still not loud enough. Went through all adjustments so suggestions are not needed.

 

BrainClot, I've heard of the problems you mentioned but don't remember solutions. You can try searching this forum, the creative forums, or just google.

Or just get a refund and buy a different sound card.

KindaSmooth: I suggest some external sound card, for instance the TurtleBeach SRM.

 

Will this work out of the box with my VAIO SZ and logitech z2300 speakers?

 

I was haveing the exact same problem with my sb extreame note book card and was finally able to get it to work with vista. When you go to the control panel and sound options you need to set spdif as the default audio option. When i selcted that my speakers recognized the optical toslink cable right away. For somereason though the settings in the experiment mode in he creative driver will only allow you to set it to 2.1 or headphones. THeres no 5.1 option. I'm not to sure but it think it doesn't matter all my speakers are playing sound when listening to music. I have the logitech z-5500 and they sound great with this audio card. If anyonefinds out any more information regarding the driver setting please post somthing cause thats the only reason why i bought this card was too hook it up to my surround sound speakers.

 

Did anybody who uses Linux comment on this yet? The last I read, Creative had only BETA drivers for this card (desktop version) and they only supported 64-bit distros. I dare to guess most Linux users don't care about this news unless Creative decides to fully support Linux drivers for Sound Blaster X-Fi Audio cards (so far, they are not open source).

Comments? (I guess Windows users don't care but it's just an observation).

 

I have been having similar problems with my optical out port on this card with one twist: It WILL play sound through the optical out but only for approximately 16 minutes and then it just stops sending a signal. I am using xp and my speaker setup is the Logitech Z-5500. I am guessing that it is defective and I should get it fixed but I was just curious if anybody else has been experiencing this same issue. Could it be a driver? I am also running vista on my Gatway P-6860 and it works even worse on vista it will freeze within 5 minutes with the updated driver Please can someone give me some help? Thanks

 

Hi. I'm from Brazil and i've bought the creative x-fi xtreme audio notebook and the 5.1 module adapter. But i'm using a VAIO FZ260 and it have a 34mm expresscard slot. Is there any extensor for this case?