Laptop Soundcard Advice

[Stories]

I'm looking to pickup a new soundcard for my Toshiba Satellite 5105-S502 laptop. I want a multi-channel external soundcard that I will be using for two things: casual DJing and DVD movies. The DJing is what takes priority over the DVD movies. Here's the predicament, my laptop is only equipped with USB1.1 ports, not USB2.0. So that takes the Audigy NX off the list right off the bat.

I've been contemplating the SB Extigy for a while, I've also taken a look at the M-Audio Sonica Theatre... any other recomendations? The DVD speaker system I'll be using is a 4-channel computer system that only has two analog inputs (front and rear), it's the Boston Acoustics BA4800. The thing I'm worried about is that the subwoofer will have no sound output since most of these systems all have a separate subwoofer analog output... any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Toshiba Satellite 5105-S502

 

[r2k]

I just wanted to mention that Audigy2 NX can be used with a USB 1.1 connection just fine like any other external sound card but you won't be able to use all of its features if you connect it to a USB 1.1 port (e.g. DVD-Audio playback). See Creative's website for more info.

 

[phsstpok]

Don't really know much about the subject so I'm just kind of tossing up some ideas.

Did you think about adding a PCMCIA/PC Card, USB 2.0 card to your laptop?

I was just looking at the <A HREF="http://www.terratec.net/index.html" target="_new">Terretec website</A> for a phono-to-PC preamp for a friend. I noticed Terretec has a 5.1 USB sound card (or should I say sound adapter), the Aureon 5.1 USB. It's compatible with USB 1.1.

<b>56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!</b>

 

[Stories]

Yeah, I saw the device on Terratec's website as well, but it doesn't seem to be all that widely available (at least in my limited searches). I was gonna probably get the Extigy, since that also has 5.1 and it's on USB1.1. I never really thought about the PCMCIA USB2.0 coverters, they work well?

I was also thinking, on the Audigy2 NX, I probably won't even need to use the hi-fidelity 24-bit/96Hz audio features nor the DVD-audio features I don't think... would regular performance aside from those be acceptable?

Toshiba Satellite 5105-S502

 

[r2k]

Although it's full of Creative hype (pun intended!) this page at their website is quite informative about what you can and cannot do with the A2NX.

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/audigy2NX/

A few points:
-24-bit/96KHz audio playback/recording (real, unlike Extigy)
-Dolby Digital EX 7.1 decoding capability
-DVD-Audio up to 24-bit/96KHz (requires USB2.0 and WinXP)
-IMHO great connectivity for a home product at this price
-supports EAX 3 AdvancedHD (EAX 4 drivers not released yet)
-Remote Control

 

[phsstpok]

Yeah, I saw the device on Terratec's website as well, but it doesn't seem to be all that widely available (at least in my limited searches).

I never seem to see Terratec gear at websites that sell computer-only stuff. I've only seen it at music gear sites.

Try the "shopping" link at the Terratec site. They have a list of vendors. (I don't know about other countries but the USA vendors seem to be mostly "brick and mortor" locations not online, though).

I never really thought about the PCMCIA USB2.0 coverters, they work well?

don't know if they work well from personal experience since I don't own a laptop. However, the PCMCIA/PC Card/Cardbus slots have always been intended for laptop expansion and the slots have been around for a long time. I can only assume the adapters do work well.

I've been thinking about getting an older laptop (not saying yours is old). I don't need a laptop and don't need a powerful one but sometimes the small size would be a real convience. Anyway, I would want to be able to use an up-to-date CD writer and perhaps later a DVD burner. Since older laptops didn't have the fastest writers and USB 1.1 is limited to about 6x-8x CD writing I thought a USB 2.0 would be a much needed upgrade. I never even really considered that this could potential include a sound system upgrade.

I see that USB 2.0 PC Cards only cost about $20 USD. It's a pretty inexpensive but worthwhile investment.

<b>56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!</b>