Do you know the audio specs for your notebook computer? I don’t, and I
suspect you don’t either. You can usually find the technical details of
the processor, screen, hard drive and memory, but just try and dig up
anything about the audio subsystem. You’ll most likely come up empty.
Part of the reason for this is because most notebook buyers don’t care
about the audio, as long as it meets a minimal level of quality.

If your income depends on delivering a professional level of audio, you
don’t have many options with notebook sound, unless you’re willing to
deal with an external breakout box. That situation changes with the
Creative PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook audio card. It
offers most of the performance and features of the desktop-based Audigy
2, shrunken to the size of a PC card. That includes recording and
playback of 24-bit/192 kHz audio, support for DTS-ES and Dolby Digital
EX decoding and full-resolution playback of 24-bit DVD-Audio discs.

On the downside, all this audio goodness is completely separate from
the sound system in your notebook. You won’t be able to route the
card’s audio through the built-in speakers. Because it’s a
self-contained system, the Audigy 2 notebook card supplies its own
inputs and outputs for the high-resolution audio. A PCMCIA card doesn’t
have the same outward-facing real estate as a desktop card, so there
have to be compromises with the inputs and outputs. The edge of this
card has three ports: a multi-use input jack, a multi-use output jack
and a dongle connector for multi-channel speaker setups. The input jack
alternately serves as a microphone input, line input or optical input.
The output jack can function either as a headphone jack or an optical
output. The dongle connector attaches to a supplied cable that can
drive a 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 channel speaker system. This
three-port configuration is versatile given the constraints, but it
doesn’t support multiple line-in or line-out connections or allow for
multi-channel recording. Depending on your project, these limitations
could be a problem. If they are, you may be better off with a
full-featured external solution that connects via FireWire or USB 2.0.

Considering its size, this card is a marvel of engineering. It’s
extremely quiet with a rated signal-to-noise ratio of 104dB. I hooked
up the card to a pair of studio-grade powered monitors (two Mackie
HR824 near-field speakers) and cranked up the volume. What I didn’t
hear was any telltale hiss or digital distortion-just pure,
high-quality sound. I demoed both 16-bit and 24-bit audio and was
impressed with the results. Creative was able to electronically isolate
the card from any interference within the notebook. Sonically this
PCMCIA card can hold its own against the desktop version of the Audigy
2, and by extension, most 24-bit sound cards. Unless your work requires
pristine sound, or you need support for multi-channel recording, you’ll
love this card. It’s a big step up from ordinary notebook audio at a
price that won’t bust your budget.