Would USB "Sound Blaster X-Fi GO!" (SB1290) with DSD and a Netbook or Laptop work ?

[IC301]

Would USB "Sound Blaster X-Fi GO!" (SB1290) with DSD and a Netbook or Laptop work ?

Has anyone tried the "Sound Blaster X-Fi GO! Pro" (SB1290) http://us.creative.com/products/go.asp?product=20056 with
a x86 Netbook (or less preferred, a Laptop) and DSD ? It is a USB Sound Blaster with Mic in and Headphone out. Some
reviews say it has "1GB Flash Drive" whereas others mention an "Installation CD", are there two different versions ?

The Specs claim: "16-bit Analog-to-Digital conversion of analog inputs at up to 44.1 kHz sampling rate".

You could load Linux on the Flash Drive with DSD and then simply boot from it. It would be a wonderful Provoice solution.

 

[racingfan360]

Yes Ive tried a Sound Blaster X-Fi GO as the soundcard and an Asus Netbook EeePC1001. Performance was 'ok' but wasn't as good as the internal sound card IMHO. I've also tried a cheap USB sound card and performance was terrible

Mine came with an install CD...think there is only 1 version.

HTH,

Jim

 

[IC301]

Thanks for confirming that.

Yes Ive tried a Sound Blaster X-Fi GO as the soundcard and an Asus Netbook EeePC1001. Performance was 'ok' but wasn't as good as the internal sound card IMHO. I've also tried a cheap USB sound card and performance was terrible

Mine came with an install CD...think there is only 1 version.

HTH,

Jim

Yes it does, thanks.

I got started looking for a new soundcard after seeing the dismal noise floor of my on-board sound card in my half-dozen year
old Computer while it is idle. See my (first screenshot) results (using "Spectran" http://www.sdradio.eu/spectran.html)
compared with another person's (second screenshot) results (with a different Program) using a SB X-FI type Card.

Perhaps new Computers have reasonably decent on-board audio and I would be better off getting a USB Sound Blaster X-Fi HD
(SB1240) http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=effc0e1347ae911ab4b10856324c6b85en02 for my old Desktop. It would seem that "external USB" along
with the "X-FI HD" would give me a SNR of better than -114dB (according to the Specs). That should make DSD .

PS: I must wait until Christmas 2011 when AMD is scheduling the release of the Chip that I want in my next Computer - so I can not upgrade now.

 

[SouthJerseyJohnny]

My 2 cents and a question.

I too have tried external sound cards and although you have more flexibility in the settings, I find the internal sound chip to perform better in all my "experiments". My "patients" have been a Dell Laptop, Acer Netbook and an old Dell tower.
My question to the group is do I program the "delay" function on my scanner (Pro-2004) for the frequencies being used?

 

[woodpecker]

Yes Ive tried a Sound Blaster X-Fi GO as the soundcard and an Asus Netbook EeePC1001. Performance was 'ok' but wasn't as good as the internal sound card IMHO. I've also tried a cheap USB sound card and performance was terrible

Mine came with an install CD...think there is only 1 version.

HTH,

Jim

I think there must be 2 versions of this sound card, I bought the one called x-fi go that doubles up as a 1GB flash drive (part number SB1100 on it), I cannot get it to work with DSD at all well, everything sounds really "chopped up". I'm using it as the input card and the internal audio as output. My old much larger USB soundlblaster SB0270 works great on the same setup.

There appears to be another card called x-fi go pro which looks identical but I don't think it has the 1GB flash built in, is this the one that works?

I'm running on a umpc with no audio input so am in need of the smallest possible USB input device, I've tried 2 c-media based devices which were unusable and now this x-fi go which is also a no go!

 

[racingfan360]

So the one I got to work with 'ok' performance is a "Sound Blaster X-Fi GO! Pro" (SB1290), no 1GB drive. I haven't tried a SB1100.

HTH

Jim

 

[woodpecker]

So the one I got to work with 'ok' performance is a "Sound Blaster X-Fi GO! Pro" (SB1290), no 1GB drive. I haven't tried a SB1100.

HTH

Jim

Hi Jim,

Well I just got theSB1290 delivered and its the same ;-(

Both the SB1100 and SB1290 produce a garbled mess for me on a known good signal that works with my MP3+ SB0270, which linux are you running?

If you type:-

uname -r

what kernel version does it report?

Thanks,
Andy

 

[racingfan360]

Hi Andy, sorry to hear that....

Ive tried the X-Fi GO! Pro again to check and it does work, but not great (id describe it as a bit 'choppy'). I assume that's because its only 44.1khz which I hadn't taken as much notice of before.

Ive an asus eeepc running ubuntu 10.04, dual boot with xp. uname -r confirms 2.6.32.30-generic

I've tried a few other USB sound cards btw: to date this one works best (I assume you are in the UK):
5.1 USB Multimedia Sound Card : Sound Cards : Maplin

I guess it's because it runs at 48khz.

 

[woodpecker]

I've done some more trials and found the x-fi go pro will work as the playback sound card ok but is unusable as the input sound card, which is bad for me as I need it for the input.

I'm not sure about the 44.1 kHz, I understood the non Pro version which I tried first supports 24 bit, 48 kHz at least this page implies it does for playback:-

RightMark Audio Analyzer test : X-Fi Go!

I'll have a look at that Maplin card, I am in the UK but I'm trying to build a portable solution so I'm trying to find one of these sound cards the size of a USB flash stick to work, I've tried 4 different ones now, the 2 x-fi ones and 2 based on c-media chipset, none will work as the input sound card.

I'm using ubuntu 9.10, I couldn't get the touchscreen drivers to work on my UMPC with 10.04.

Any ideas?

 

[woodpecker]

Actually Jim I think you have hit the nail on the head, the input sampling rate is limited to 44.1 kHz, I tried to force it 60 kHz to see the max rate like this:-

arecord -f dat -r 60000 -D hw:3,0 -d 5 test.wav

And it reported: requested 60000Hz got 44100Hz

The MP3+ reported: requested 60000Hz got 48000Hz