Laptop Soundcard

[slipneo007]

Hi,

I am trying to decide upon a high quality soundcard for my laptop to connect to my receiver and would like to know if anyone has some suggestions. Basically I am looking for something with very good sound quality, preferably analog, to drive a 2.1 system. I have found several options such as: creative x-fi pcmcia card, e-mu 0202 usb, and m-audio audiophile usb. I would like to keep it as cheap as possible, which will probably end up in the low $100s. My setup is as follows: HK 235 receiver, PSB Image 6T floorstanders, SVS PB-10 Subwoofer, and an audiosource amp. Any comments are appreciated in advance.

Thanks

 

[jaxvon]

Hi,

I am trying to decide upon a high quality soundcard for my laptop to connect to my receiver and would like to know if anyone has some suggestions. Basically I am looking for something with very good sound quality, preferably analog, to drive a 2.1 system. I have found several options such as: creative x-fi pcmcia card, e-mu 0202 usb, and m-audio audiophile usb. I would like to keep it as cheap as possible, which will probably end up in the low $100s. My setup is as follows: HK 235 receiver, PSB Image 6T floorstanders, SVS PB-10 Subwoofer, and an audiosource amp. Any comments are appreciated in advance.

Thanks

I have the Audigy 2ZS PCMCIA card and find it to be excellent. The sound quality is superb, and the noise level completely inaudible.

 

[DavidJ]

PC sound card

I've read lots of reviews for soundcards and, for a laptop, the Audigy 2 ZS is at the top of the tree. Check out www.extremetech.com for suppliers under $100.

 

[mr-ben]

I purchased the Turtle Beach AudioAdvantage Micro, mainly because it was just so darn cheap. It really has a dead-quiet noise floor and a strong amp for difficult to drive headphones. The downside to it is that it has no top end whatsoever. I may use it as a pure digital out down the road.

Why not use something like this as a digital output, rather than an analog solution?

 

[slipneo007]

I probably will end up using a digital connection. I have a Audigy 2 ZS for my desktop and feel it is a bit lacking in sound quality, although I have nothing to compare it to. After reading several reviews on the ZS PCMCIA card, it appears to have excellent quality for 24bit/96Khz but is a good bit lacking on 16bit/44.1KHz. For those who have this card, how do you connect it to your system and do you use 16bit or 24bit playback? I am thinking about just buying this as I found it for about $50.

Thanks

 

[farscaper]

I had the same situation a year ago. I went with the USB to Optical solution using the Optoplay from Audiotrak. It was about $50 US. I thought I'd give it a try for that price. It worked just fine. I got what I wanted.