External Audio Enhancers Miss the Mark

Tom Mainelli

MP3 hounds tired of listening to tunes through generic sound cards and cheap plastic PC speakers may be tempted to try Xitel's new $50 HiFi-Link or M-Audio's $90 Sonica. Each unit--about the size of a deck of playing cards--promises to boost audio quality by cutting your old sound card out of the loop and connecting your PC via USB to your stereo receiver.

The claim certainly sounds good, but regrettably the shipping products I tested did not.

Xitel outfits the HiFi-Link with 30 feet of shielded cable, which almost makes the package worth the price. A 0.125-inch audio connector on one end attaches to the HiFi-Link; two RCA plugs on the other end hook up to the receiver.

Setup was a snap, and after switching my audio setting to use the HiFi-Link instead of my sound card, I launched Musicmatch and prepared for some easy listening. But the audio sounded dull and lacked dramatic highs and lows--even after I cranked up the receiver to obtain acceptable speaker volume. To determine whether the setup's long cable was the source of the problem, I unplugged the HiFi-Link, restored my old audio setting, and then plugged the cable into my PC's so-generic-it-lacks-a-name sound card. The audio clearly brightened, so the cable wasn't the culprit.

Though the HiFi-Link fared slightly better when I listened through powered PC speakers or headphones, it did not perceptibly improve the quality of my sound card.

M-Audio's more expensive Sonica promises more features--most notably a digital output in addition to an analog one. Since M-Audio comes without cables, I used the Xitel cable to test the Sonica's analog output.

After tech support resolved a setup problem (Musicmatch required use of the Sonica's CD Quality Mode), I could finally listen in. But the output was little better than audio from the HiFi-Link. The Sonica's modest array of extra features--including speaker and bass settings, dialog enhancement, and a range of surround-sound modes--didn't help much, and neither did using the Sonica with my PC speakers or headphones.

The Sonica's digital output was a bright spot. I connected the unit to my digital-ready receiver with my own digital optical cable; using a notebook with a DVD drive, I played a DVD movie with full Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. The Sonica's audio options seemed more useful here, too.

But with full-featured DVD players available for the price of the Sonica, how many people would bother using their notebook as a player? Also, the $75 cost of the 20-foot optical cable to connect my PC and receiver seemed high.

Unless your system has no sound card at all--or you desperately need a digital audio link between your PC and receiver--I can't recommend either of these products. If you are interested in an external audio upgrade, give Creative Labs' bigger and slightly more expensive SoundBlaster Extigy a try. It sounds vastly superior.

Buying Information

Xitel HiFi-Link 2 stars (09-06-2002) External sound system that links to a stereo doesn't enhance audio much but comes with a useful cable. List: $50

Buying Information

M-Audio Sonica 1.5 stars (09-06-2002) Pricey, lacks a cable, and fails to improve sound noticeably--but can channel Dolby Digital audio from a PC DVD drive to a stereo. List: $90