THE Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! and Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook are Creative's latest external sound cards designed to follow the user wherever he goes.

The X-Fi Go! (above) looks like a USB flash drive and you will hardly feel any extra weight carrying it along.

Two of its traits, in particular, will appeal to the gamer.

First, the 1GB of in-built storage space: Custom gaming profiles, plug-ins and add-ons can be stored on it, for easy retrieval on any computer.

Another is the VoiceFX feature, which has over 18 different effects to disguise your voice.

As usual, Creative did not disappoint with the audio quality and tracks sounded better with the X-Fi technology because it adds detail and clarity to compressed music files like MP3s.

In gameplay, the EAX effects created an immersive 3D surround sound

Like its USB brother, the X-Fi Notebook is a plug-and-play device. Just plug it into the ExpressCard slot of your laptop.

What is different, though, is its ability to stream audio through Wi-Fi to the Creative Wireless Receiver.

Smaller than a box of namecards, the Wireless Receiver is a cinch to cart around.

Again, sound quality is excellent, whether through the card's headphone jacks or via wireless streams.

My only concern is the short wireless range. Unlike my router, the Wireless Receiver has no external antenna and once I moved the notebook to the living room from the bedroom, the wireless audio streaming connection was lost.

Thankfully, you just have to move back into range and the streaming automatically continues.

Final say

Highly portable external sound cards with great effects, though the Wireless Receiver can do with stronger Wi-Fi transmission power.

By Mike Lee, a freelance writer.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on 17 December 2008.

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