New External Sound "Card"

(startx) writes: "Well, it looks like creative has done it again. This time they've created an external sound"card" that connects through usb to your computer or laptop. It's called the Extigy, and looking at the specs, it appears as though it's got every possible audio connector you can possibly think of, along with the standard ir port with remote control. With this, a usb HDD, and a usb cd-rw, it looks like I can have most of my box, outside the box, just for the geek factor :-)" I don't think it's quite as cool-looking as the Stereolink 1200 (which I've never actually heard), but for a few bucks more the Creative crams in a lot of features.

Comments

"every possible audio connector"? No. I want XLR.

[BigBlockMopar]

and looking at the specs, it appears as though it's got every possible audio connector you can possibly think of

No. There's no XLR.

All my stereo equipment uses XLR patch cables because XLR is balanced and therefore induces almost no noise into the signal. It's a professional format, commonly seen on microphones.

I had to build it into my faithful old SB16; nuked the on-board output amplifier and replaced it with a pair of 12AX7 vacuum tubes because their high operating voltages make induced noise less significant than with comparable gain from semiconductors. And having tubes inside your computer is cool. The tubes are driven directly off the D/A converter outputs and drive my balanced line outputs.

The rest of the system puts to shame the plastic crap most people use as computer sound systems. The amplifier is an early semiconductor model, a Sound A-5000 from about 1968. The noisy germanium preamplifier stage was replaced with 12AX7s with DC filament supplies, zener B+ regulation and a few other hacks. These drive the original transistor output stage, which is surprisingly good. The speakers are Acoustic Research AR-4x, which sit on either side of my monitors (dual-headed display). I'm not really much of an Enya fan, but I've made people weep by playing an MP3 of "Only Time" with that system.

I would imagine that there is a burgeoning market for audiophile sound cards; solid engineering and impeccable quality are more important to me than "3D Simulation" or "32 voices" or any of the other crap that the marketing department invents.