# External Sound Card (SB X-FI?) for Laptop to AVR??



## caper26 (Sep 10, 2010)

Hi guys. My last thread was titled "wireless streaming to AVR" which may not have been a good title for what I want to do.
Here is what I want to accomplish:

On my laptop, I want to access music files on my network (wirelessly), and play them on my AVR and speakers.
Equipment:

Yamaha RX-V863 AVR 
Energy RC-70 speakers. 
Compaq Laptop with USB and headphone out only (no optical out)
Since my gear is semi hi-fi, I don't want to use the headphone jack with a 3.5mm/RCA splitter.
I was pointed in the direction of Sound Blaster X-FI Surround. I noticed that these products have a rather in-depth GUI, with EQ's etc. I don't care about any of this since my AVR will take care of that with its PEQ. All I want is to be able to play my FLAC files through the AVR at the best quality possible for under $100...Is this a good solution?
What I want to do is similar to what my PS3 does with PS3 media server, except with a laptop.
Is anyone familiar with this sound card? Is there any difference between the standard card and the Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 *Pro*? Thanks for any response in advance!! ~cape


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

I have no experience with the Sound Blaster but:

I've used the M-Audio Sonica for several years and works great.
It's an outboard audio card that connects to the computer USB, then sent out either digitally or analog to the music system.
This is a review of the Sonica Theater:
http://emusician.com/daw/emusic_maudio/
This describes the Sonica "Theater" which is not what I use. I use a simpler model simply called the "Sonica," which was a little cheaper but works just as well. But they are several years old now and I'm not sure how readily available they are.

Here is some additional info that I used to get better quality audio out of my computer. It has to do with bypassing the Windows KMixer (Kernel Mixer):
http://www.ayre.com/usb-xp_setup.htm


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## caper26 (Sep 10, 2010)

I just ordered one of these Turtle Beach Micro II USB Digital Audio Converter dongles. Should be an improvement over the 3.5mm out. Thanks for the help.


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## nholmes1 (Oct 7, 2010)

I have an older version of the unit and it worked very well for that purpose even though I was using it for other reasons. Much better sound than the built in unit.


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## caper26 (Sep 10, 2010)

Having a few problems with this setup unfortunately. Made a new thread to address them


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