Sound Blaster ExpressCard audio cards for laptops

[K4sum1]

To start this off, you're probably going to want the Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook (SB0710), unless you absolutely need ExpressCard 34 compatibility. Even then a cheap USB DAC would probably be good enough, combined with a USB hub if you don't have enough USB ports. It's what I currently use as it's more convenient for my to go setup. I only recommend these if your laptop has awful IDT audio, or if you're like me and just can't get reliably working internal audio in a laptop.

Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook (SB0710):
This is the first ExpressCard sound card released by Creative, it is overall better than the newer Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook (SB0950). Unless you need ExpressCard 34 support, just get this (or a USB DAC).

On top of a normal audio input and output, you have both an optical input and output in the form of Mini-TOSLINK. Also, if you have the breakout box, you get 7.1 analogue surround from your laptop. I think this is the smallest device that gives you optical and surround audio, I use it mostly for optical audio myself.

Creative drivers can be kinda bad, but this card can use the Daniel_K Creative Support Pack drivers. Specifically the SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCIe / Notebook Support Pack 1.2. It works well on every Windows version I've tried. The driver does have a power saving feature where audio can take a second to kick in and gets cut off, but you can bypass this issue by using it without a driver. This happens most often in explorer when navigating, but it's not really an issue in games or watching videos. You won't have as much luck on Linux, it wasn't detected for me in my testing and any driver is too old or just doesn't exist.

Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook (SB0950):
This is the successor to the Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook (SB0710), you get a basic audio input/output and no other features aside from a long dead proprietary wireless audio transmitter. There isn't really any reason to get this card unless you need Creative software. If your laptop's audio is bad or dead, a USB DAC will be just as good.

For drivers, this doesn't have any Daniel_K Support Pack driver, or at least I couldn't install them with my SB0950. This means you need the stock drivers, which still seem to be fine in my testing. They have the same delay issue, however there is another issue this card has. This card has a couple "features" called CMSS-3D and Crystallizer, they make everything sound weird. Normally it would be just don't enable these, but they always re-enable every time the card loses power. You need the drivers installed to disable these "features", and you have to do it every single time you reboot your laptop or disconnect it. This basically kills it for me, a cheap USB DAC has the same basic functionality, and doesn't have these weird, useless features.

Outside of these, there is also a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook (SB0530). This looks a lot like a PCMCIA version of the Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook (SB0710), however it seems to be very rare. I'd like to get one to see how it is, but it's not worth its common going price.

Conclusion:
If you're going to get a sound card or DAC for your laptop, get a USB one, or if you need more advanced features and have an ExpressCard 54 slot, get the Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook (SB0710). Just don't get the Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook (SB0950). If you don't have a free USB port for a USB DAC, just use a USB hub or an ExpressCard to USB adapter.