# Any external soundcards w/ HDMI?



## dougc (Dec 19, 2009)

I just bought the DSP1124p for some sub EQing and now I'm on the hunt for an external soundcard so I can utilize REW with a mic. I would also like to feed the music from my laptop to my HT system in the best quality possible. I plan to update to either an AV/receiver (Onkyo 1007) or the Emotiva processor + amps. My 12 year old Nak obviously has no HDMI, but has optical which has me looking at the Creative Soundblaster x-fi Surrround 5.1 Pro (which has optical). Are there any affordable external USB soundcards out there with HDMI?

Thanks!
Doug


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Not that I've seen.


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

Is there an advantage to using HDMI instead of optical?

I've already posted this article about bypassing the Windows KMixer, but here it is again:
http://www.ayre.com/usb-xp_setup.htm


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Yes, HDMI supports lossless surround audio. Not needed for stereo music right now, but in the future, you may want surround music/movies and not want to buy extra equipment. At the end of the day, an HDMI vid card will likely be less expensive than a sound card.


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## Infrasonic (Sep 28, 2010)

Asus's Xonar line has a few sound cards that have HDMI out but they are not external.

If it is a newer laptop with an ATI/AMD graphics card there is a chance the hdmi out will also transmit an audio signal.

If all you want to do is EQ your system then the optical out or even analog out will be more than sufficient.


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## dougc (Dec 19, 2009)

My laptop is old - sounds like the external card with optical is the way to go. Thanks for the input guys!


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