Long gone are the days when jokers translated the USB interface as Unsupported Serial Bus (unsupported bus). The range of devices that can work with USB has long been no longer limited to computer technology. Today, even refrigerators strive to acquire this fashionable outlet, not to mention televisions, camcorders and other players and tablets.
USB usability is easy to connect and easy to configure. The idea of transmitting sound through this bus arose among hardware developers almost immediately with the advent of connectors in computers. In addition, often the only option to get a laptop with more or less high-quality sound in games and when watching movies is a USB sound card for a laptop. After all, native speakers almost always leave much to be desired. Developers from the world famous Creative company were one of the first to sell external sound cards. She also became a trendsetter in this area.
True, the first devices were prone to problems that caused the interface of the old USB version on weak machines. The fact is that external sound cards for laptops load the processor much more than internal ones. Therefore, a laptop with an outdated processor could slow down when playing sound through them.
But it should be noted that all these problems have long been irrelevant. A sound card for a laptop connected to a modern laptop will work without problems, producing high-quality sound and practically not loading the processor. And there are no problems with compatibility and reliability with such coexistence of two sound cards in one PC. All functions work correctly, and the user only needs to determine which device will be the main one in the system and which one is secondary.
Nevertheless, an external sound card for a laptop will still remain an inferior object until you install the “native” drivers. But if you install them, then you will get a fully functional product, and all of your hidden features will become available to your OS.
But, in my opinion, it's time to move from theory to practice. Let's look at a Creative MP3 + card and try to determine what constitutes a good sound card for a laptop using its example.
So, MP3 + from the Singapore brand Creative Labs is not the first year on the market, so its capabilities are unlikely to surprise the sophisticated audience. However, this product has undeniable advantages over newer products. We will dwell on them in more detail.
The small size of the plastic case, which conceals the entire filling, makes one doubt the seriousness of this toy-like device. However, the first impression is misleading. The case is well thought out from an ergonomic point of view, all available outputs and inputs are logically located on the sides of the case. And their abundance simply introduces into a state of pleasant surprise. From such a tiny box you do not expect such great opportunities for switching the audio signal. Let's count, from one side we have a microphone jack and headphone output (3.5 jack). On the other side are tulips, with which you can easily connect any household appliance, as well as optical input and output. On the third side we have a USB connector and a neighboring switch of operating modes (analogue / digital). On the fourth side is the volume control wheel . As you can see, there is nothing superfluous, but all the necessary features, including adjusting the headphone signal, are available. It seems to me that this is a wonderful sound card for a laptop for the price that is asked for in stores.
It should be noted separately that MP3 + does not require a separate power source; it receives everything it needs from the USB bus.