Why I buy this one ?
- Bypass generally inferior soundcards with advanced USB digital rendering technology, for professional quality output that enhances all your audio
- Delete distortion and interference ? enjoy crystal clear sound with no more annoying hiss
- It's the ultimate in Plug-and-Play simplicity ? plug the HiFi-Link into a USB port and watch it automatically install, without the need for any special drivers
- The digital audio signal is ported to a unique in-line, electromagnetically isolated precision DAC, where it is processed into an optimum audio signal
- Includes a fully shielded, high definition 30-foot interconnection cable with gold plated RCA jacks

TigerDirect offers this stuff with condition New, new for:

Price : $44.99 Usually ships in 1-2 business days

--caiman-- from FL, United States offers this stuff for:

Price : $48.99 Usually ships in 1-2 business days

J&R Music and Computer World offers this stuff with condition New, new for:

Price : $48.99 Usually ships in 3-4 business days

What our customer's say!

"A Very Poor Soundcard", I returned this an hour after hookup. I have a Creative 24 bit soundcard that was cheaper than the Xitel and it sounds so much better. Do not be fooled by the hype for this. There are much better external soundcards for around the same price! Very muddy,dull sound.

"Great, but dependent on right media player!", The HiFi Link is capable of reproducing exquisite digital sound through a home stero system, but results will vary according to the media player one uses on their PC.

It worked immediatley out of the box when played through Windows Media Player, but was horribly distorted. The sound cleared right up when I lowered the volume on both the PC and WMP. But it still sounded flat. I then tried playing music through Real Player and it was just as dull. I then downloaded and set up DFX Audio Enhancer plug in for WMP and it improved the sound tremendously. DFX however, uses preset processing modes. It has quite a lot to choose from and one can tweak each a little, but in the end it is limited by lacking a true graphic equalizer. Finally I downloaded Winamp (free version) and that turned out to be he real deal. Winamp faithfully processes the music even with it's graphic equalizer turned off (infanitely better than WMP or Real Player) and one can optinally turn on its graphic equalizer for even more control.

The take home message is that HiFi link CAN work great, but if one just assumes that all media players are built equally then they could be disappointed if they choose the wrong one. Stay away fform WMP and Real Player, unless you also use an audio enhacer. Go ahead and keep it simple with Winamp and you will have true hi fidelety home stereo music.

"Total dud!", I actually did quite a bit of research before choosing the XITEL HiFi-Link. The positive reviews must have come from the owners friends and family. The sound is muddier than the Mississippi. This sounds worse than my laptop speakers, no joke. I wish I had all of the packing materials so I could return it.

"happy ending", Even if I selected this item as a mistake (intended to get the other product to record at PC from LP's); the relative I got it for was pleased with the sound quality he got at his stereo from the PC's MP3's.

"Didn't Improve Sound", This item did not improve the sound of our computer-based music played on our stereo. It was easy to install and set up, as advertised, but we noticed no appreciable difference in sound quality, so we returned the item.

Read this reviews before You buy...

"not worth it unless u have laptop or real weak sound card", This thing helped a lot whtn hooked up to my laptop, but when i hooked it up to my new desktop computer, my integrated sound card was actually much louder and better quality. this isnt really worth it unless youre using a laptop. I sent it back.

"Dramatically improved my Laptop Sound Quality", I purchased this external sound card because the built-in one on my laptop really sounded pretty poor - no high end and lots of distortion. The Xitel HiFi Link did the trick and improved the sound dramatically - no background "electronics" noise that you sometimes get with a built-in unit.

I used this with my hi-fi at home and the results were good, even with the extra long RCA cable supplied with the sound card.

The only negative I would say is that you have to set the volume levels of the sound application and sound control panel to the maximum level in order to get a line level signal out of this unit. Would be nice if it had a "line level" mode that would automatically give you a line level output and override the multiple volume controls you have in Windows. Maybe there is not enough juice to put out more signal, since this unit is powered by the computer USB connection.

Also, if you already have a pretty good sound card, you probably don't need this unit. Here's how you can decide - if a quality set of headphones already sounds good when plugged into your existing sound card, you might be hard pressed to tell the difference with this unit. I think most 3rd party desktops sound cards are pretty solid - this unit provides the best help to Laptops that obviously don't sound that good to start with.


"Kills the Krispy Bros: No More Snap, Crackle, Pop", My setup:
Windows 2K with low-end PCI soundcard.
Sennheiser 280 pro headphones plugged into line out from the soundcard.

What I was looking for:
I work in a noisy office, and so I like to put on headphones to listen music, but also just to reduce the office noise. What drove me nuts was the hissing, crackling, popping I'd hear as I'd move windows around, start applications, type on the keyboard, click the mouse, and otherwise use the computer. I believe the origin of this noise is electromagnetic interference (EMI) from the electronics inside the computer. (processor, PCI bus, hard drive, etc)

The results with Xitel:
1) Absolutely no more of the annoying noises.
2) Had to turn up the volume to get soundlevel I am used to. I think this is a result of the xitel only being powered off the USB, which doesn't have a lot of power. This is why I only gave 4 stars.
3) I can hear the music much better. This is a mixed blessing -- when one of my lower sample-rate MP3s come on I can hear it. I have good headphones, so this might not be a problem if you don't.
4) If anything I'd say the influence of this processor is to create very clean, sharp music. Doesn't add warmth, like my NAD stereo amp.

Conclusions:
Does what is says it is going to do. Probably very useful for a home media pc. Definitely recommended if you want clean audio from a low-end soundcard. Might consider getting an headphone amplifier if you are in an office setting.

"More Mid than Hi", The Xitel Hi Fi Link produces better sound than obtained thru the headphone output of my powerbook G4, however, you will be disapointed if you connect it to a high-end sound system as the sound is very digital and lifeless. It works best for social/casual listening and for that purpose, it's a good value at the amazon.com price.

"Outstanding accessory for a laptop", I purchased the HiFi-Link for connecting my laptop to the stereo in my family room while listening to the Rhapsody music service. I read good reviews here so I ordered one - I was not disappointed. I connected the USB cable, Windows XP installed the drivers and I was up in running in seconds.

Originally I was connecting from the headphone jack of my laptop to a stereo, and while the sound was adequate, it wasn't what I would consider 'CD Quality'. There was a very noticeable improvement after connecting up the HiFi link and listening to my first song. The sound quality is great and I had no issues with hum or noise - the device really works as advertised.

Bottom line, for the small investment you can't go wrong with the HiFi Link.