Need help with an external sound card...

So I picked up some 5.1 speakers a while back.
I’m looking to grab an external sound card—one that actually supports a 5.1 setup—so I can get some decent Dolby Digital 5.1 audio out of my laptop. Can someone break down the difference between these two cards for me:

1. http://www.ebay.com/itm/110904183849...=p5197.c0.m619

2. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Creative-Sou...item51abec8de5

Been stuck on this for a bit now, so I'd really appreciate some help...

Look, it’s pretty obvious when you think about it—you’re comparing apples to oranges here. There’s Creative Sound Blaster, which is a household name, and then there’s just some random, "no-name" outfit...
Between the actual price point and the sheer reputation behind them, you can't even put them in the same conversation.☕

Yeah, I get it... but besides the fact that Creative Technology has more "options" and looks cooler, is there actually any difference in sound quality, or does it all just come down to the speakers? That's what I'm not seeing...

Stay away from this one from Creative Technology (at least if you ask me)
http://www.head-fi.org/t/589446/crea...nd-5-1-pro-usb
Look, this link isn't anything special, but you might find something decent for that price
If you're hunting for a sound card, check eBay for an M-Audio
Trust me, you'll get way more bang for your buck elsewhere☕

And just to be clear, it's all connected. Obviously, your sound quality is going to depend on your speakers, your sound card, and the quality of the MP3 itself—I'd recommend at least 320kbps
Even the player matters. Just grab Foobar; it's free and super easy to use

☕☕

amberranger14, did you ever get a chance to ask about this over at Computerworld? ☕

This budget model uses the same Media Matters chipset found in about 90% of these types of devices—everything from cheap knockoffs to high-end brands that just look different. It isn’t anything groundbreaking, but it gets the job done without any real issues.

The Creative Technology option from this link is a bad deal; it’s nearly ten times the price of the budget version. Better sound quality? Probably, if you're looking at technical measurements or doing direct side-by-side comparisons. Does it actually matter in real life when you're using these speakers to watch some DivX or MKV files? Not really. If that's your only concern, grab the cheap one without overthinking it. It even has an optical input/output, so who knows, maybe you'll find a use for it someday 🙂

Look, if you can scrape some cash together, go hunt down an M-Audio sound card on eBay first. Only then should you even think about looking at Creative Technology gear. The real kicker is the drivers—you need software that actually lets you tweak the audio to your liking, because you’re definitely going to regret settling for less. These cheap, bottom-of-the-barrel options are basically the same as just plugging directly into your motherboard.
Honestly, you'd be better off building a workaround. Just download some dedicated software that handles the processing for you; it'll put a tiny bit more load on your CPU, but it's worth it.

From a purely technical standpoint, plugging everything directly into the motherboard doesn't carry nearly as much weight as it used to. The same goes for CPU overhead... thankfully 🙂
. On a subjective level, it’s becoming almost irrelevant, except for a few purists. Everything is lossy compressed anyway. If the OP actually had audiophile ambitions, this thread would have been framed differently, and the speaker choice would have been a different matter entirely.

Let’s look at the bigger picture here, if you will ☕
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