Customer Reviews

XITEL HiFi-Link For PC and Mac

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

So you've digitized your CD collection or listen to internet radio, but are tired with the tinny sound of your computer speakers. "Why can't I use my stereo that's located just 15' away," you ask yourself? Having bought a DVD/CD player that can read .mp3 disks was a reasonable stopgap, but what about internet radio?

If this sounds like you, the HiFi-Link is a must have.

There are three items in the box: (1) a USB cable for your computer to the HiFi Link, (2) the HiFi Link, and (3) a 30' long RCA cable for between the HiFi Link and your stereo. Hookup was reasonably simple (I did get a message that a certain file was not found during installation, but the HiFi-Link still worked). The HiFi Link is small - about the size of fat candybar - so you can stuff it anywhere easily out of sight. The sound quality is great.

On the downside, using the HiFi Link requires you to change your multimedia default sound output to "USB device" instead of your soundcard; this means that everything will play through your stereo (computer games etc) unless you toggle the sound output back to your sound card. A minor inconvenience for the overall utility of digital music on your home stereo.

I was wary of this product at first. It talks about the inferiority of the 1/8" headphone jack on my laptop while using an 1/8" headphone jack at one end of the device. It seemed like an expensive cord.

However, it has proven its worth. Sound quality is noticibly better with the USB than when i plug the 30 foot cord (included) into my headphone jack.

Very deep bass is missing, and highs are imperfect, but this is probably half due to the quality of the MP3 format. Any time you stretch 30 feet of cords around a room, you'll lose some quality, I'm just impressed by the sound I get for the money.

In short, its not a perfect system, but if you have a high quality stereo a fair distance away and a substantial MP3 collection, its one of your only (affordable) options.

...you probably don't need one of these.

I'm feeling like an idiot right now because I bought this thing BEFORE I tried plugging my computer straight into my stereo. D'oh!!!

A 1/8" stereo plug-RCA adapter and RCA cable from Radio Shack do the same job as this thing. Just plug it into your computer's headphone jack, and you're all set. I did a side-by-side comparison between this thing and the stuff I bought at the Shack and there's NO discernible difference. I guess there are some situations where interference inside your computer and/or a weak sound card will make this not work so well, and in this case I'm sure this product would be perfect; it definitely works as advertised. But I would HIGHLY recommend you try the Radio Shack version for $12 before you buy one of these.

I got the Xitel HiFi-Link a number of months ago after seeing it on CNN. I love good music on as I work. I have a laptop and the quality of sound I got from my sound card when I tried to hook it to my stereo was terrible. The sound I get out of my stereo now that I am using this is extraordinary. Most of what I listen to are MP3's and Internet radio stations. I did not know they could sound this good. Frankly, at the price I was expecting much less. Even more impressive is that I just plugged it into my USB port and it worked...no software, no setup. I highly recommend the HiFi-Link.

XITEL HIFI LINK IS A GREAT PRODUCT AND WORKS FINE BUT YOU CAN LEARN FROM OTHERS MISTAKES. FIRST IF YOU HAVE A GOOD SOUND CARD, THE USB PLUG DOES NOT HAVE TO BE USED. ONE ONLY HAS TO PLUG THE HEADPHONE JACK PART OF THE STEREO WIRE DIRECTLY INTO THE PC HEADPHONE JACK. TRUST ME WHEN YOU PLUG INTO THE USB PORT IN BACK OF THE PC THE MUSIC FROM YOUR PC SOUNDS WASHED OUT. USE YOUR SOUND CARD WHICH HAS AN EQUILIZER TO ADJUST THE SOUND TO YOUR LIKING. SECOND AND MOST IMPORTANT BUY THE XITEL GROUND LOOP ISOLATOR BECAUSE A HUM WILL COME FROM THE PC IF BOTH UNITS (STEREO AND PC) ARE NOT ON THE SAME POWER LINE. POWER UP AOL RADIO AND ENJOY THE SHOW.

I've become a big digital music fan - my hard drive has thousands of songs on it now I've burned all my CDs to it. I'd tried using a cable to plug into my Bose system so I could play my music over a decent sound system (my PC speakers are lousy), but it never sounded very good. Then I read about the HiFi-Link on CNET, bought one the same day, and am completely blown away by how good it sounds! And you cannot believe how easy it was to install - true plug and play just like they said. And, now I've got the perfect gift for my brothers and sister!

It's available and priced less than 50 dollars on Xitel's website. I have owned the HiFi-Link for several years now.
Users who continue to experience noisy audio need to plug their computer's power into this additional ground loop isolator device:
Ebtech Hum X Voltage Hum Filter
And be sure to view Michael D. Normington's informative video!

"Ultimate plug'n'play simplicity - plug MP3-Streamer into a USB port and watch it automatically install without the need for any special drivers. Digital audio is processed via its 24-bit precision DAC for optimum performance. It's quick, easy and extremely effective."

I've sold all of my CD's, and I don't miss them! I use my iMac and my HiFi-Link exclusively when listening to music at home. You'll get the fullest sound quality possible out of any MP3 collection with this basic HiFi-Link (the pro model is overkill for music).

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.

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.