johiwansOne it targeted more towards gaming, thus offering a lot of features. The DACport mainly focuses on sound quality and has less features. It really depends on what your goal is. The x-fi line isn't really that good, so unless you have issues with your sound and want a cheap solution plus features like virtual surround (which might be buggy if you are using their low end model), I won't recommend those cards. You can pretty much get creative dsp for free:
https://m.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/410kj7/creative_dsp_sbx_without_creative_hardware/
indi_guyNo I'm not. Maybe I've been too kind to this product recently?
:D
You can find me under the same name on Head-Fi. I'm one of the guys that keeps talking shit about the DACport and claims there's not much difference between the DACport Slim and my old laptop's onboard audio in terms of quality haha (at least not enough difference for me to justify 100 dollars, but that's just the opinion of me and some people I asked to volunteer in a listening test. Who knows? Maybe my crappy old laptop is actually an audiophile gem!).
U-3CYes that's a funny thing. My age old HP laptop had way way better audio than even the most expensive laptops I find today. It's Altec Lansing speaker surprised everyone.
Btw, comparing Centrance slim to my current crappy Lenovo laptop with RealTek audio. The most significant improvement I found is in the low end and details. Highs are bit extended. Worth $100? might be debatable. But prices are adjudged according to the market so in that respect it lies in a sweet spot. Challenging the Fiio territory though Fiio still wins on features. The most surprising moment was when I switched from Foobar to Jriver. Even with onboard audio it sounds good. Sometimes I forget if I am listening via Centrance or onboard.
indi_guyI've got a budget hp laptop too! I have also read about a similar case with someone else's cheapo dell laptop.
Maybe some of these laptops are audiophile gems after all!
; )
Well, might as well do a comparison with my laptop as well. I also see an improvement with the bass in terms of quantity, no matter what headphones I use, easy to drive or hard. I guess my laptop's audio is a bit on the brighter side. Can't really say I hear more details on the DACport.
The speakers on my onboard audio though...they are kind of pathetic. : (