Which Sound Card

I've been looking at sound cards for a month or so and i have know come across two that meet what i need. (digital output, EAX5 and DTS Connect or Dolby Digital Live)
the two cards i've found are
Auzentech X-Fi Prelude
and
Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional
sorry about the lack of links but its my first post so it wouldn't let me :rant:
(they're both above my budget of £80 so any cheaper card which meets my needs would be greatly accepted)
but anyway i was just wondering which one is better. i'll be using them for gaming and watching movies and when i build my first build in about a year i will take them across.
thanks in advance

dont get creative, ill post a link to the thread explaining why when i find it...

If you're set on those 2, the Auzentech is the only one worth considering.

Don't buy Creative where ever you can.

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...-creative.html
thats the link to the thread explaining why not to buy creative

Depends...do you use XP or Vista? Creative X-Fi cards work fine in XP. Vista is another story, and while I have it, I don't use it enough to really say. I can tell you that in my XP install, my Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer rocks in both games and music (particularly if you have a good set of speakers or headphones).

I don't have any experience with the Auzentech, however, so I can't compare. ^_^

im running vista so it sounds as if the auzentech is better. i chose those two as they both had EAX5 which a friend reccommened but i'm just wondering is it really worth it? would i be happier with a cheaper auzentech that didn't have a X-Fi chip

i've got the x-fi fatal1ty champion series and i'm running 64-bit vista with no problems, i guess i'm one of the lucky ones! if you've got good speakers/headphones then you'll appreciate the difference, but only if you can actually hear the difference. my friend has pretty much the same speakers as me (logitech z5500 vs z680) and they're wasted on him as he can't really tell the difference between good and poor quality speakers.

there's no doubt the x-fi chip is good, otherwise auzentech wouldn't have built the prelude around it. one thing about these two cards which i find annoying is that they can't process dts soundtracks via hardware but only via software or external decoder.

the asus d2/d2x (d2x connects via pci-e, that's the only difference) can handle both ddl and dts, but it can only do hardware EAX upto 2.0. it does EAX upto 5.0 via some sort of workaround (can't remember exactly). if you're running vista then the advantages of EAX isn't that great, because of the way vista processes the sound it has to go through a software layer (Alchemy) unlike xp.

Imo the asus is the best all rounded right now, if auzentech do deliver on the promise of matching the ddl and dts abilities of the asus then that would definitely put it in top place. as far as i can tell the asus is better at movies, but the x-fi is better at games (auzentech's offering will give you the best quality sound because of the higher end parts)

the only thing that would make me buy a creative card, if i was to buy one now, would be the front I/O panel. it's great not having to go around the back to plug in and out my headphones.....

but if that didn't matter then i'd probably go with the asus. if money is an issue then you can go for the asus dx/d, it loses the full ddl and dts abilities (it still has some ddl functions though)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rufeo

the only thing that would make me buy a creative card, if i was to buy one now, would be the front I/O panel. it's great not having to go around the back to plug in and out my headphones.....

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A note to some that may not know this, but a case with a front headphone input is quite nice (if all you need a front I/O for is for headphones or a mic, finding a case with either or both inputs is usually cheaper (if building a new rig). Of course, the sound card has to have the proper connections too...the Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer does (at least the Headphones one; I can't remember if I hooked up the mic one up or not... ^_^)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rufeo

one thing about these two cards which i find annoying is that they can't process dts soundtracks via hardware but only via software or external decoder.

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when you say it can't process dts soundtracks yuo mean i couldn't plug in the analoge jacks into thr back and expect 5.1surround with a dts soundtrack (thats fine though as it will be sent to an amp, hence the need for ddl)
we keep mentioning the eax5 and it does do them in vista by using creative alchemy software i found out but will the eax5 make a big differnece to my expericnce when gaming which i will use the card for most.

Get an ASUS Sonar.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by handscombmp

when you say it can't process dts soundtracks yuo mean i couldn't plug in the analoge jacks into thr back and expect 5.1surround with a dts soundtrack (thats fine though as it will be sent to an amp, hence the need for ddl)

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Not quite sure what you mean here, but you can't send DTS over a DDL link :)

The Asus Xonar D2 or D2X do everything you want your card to do. If you can live with just DDL and not DTS Connect the Xonar DX will do the job and it's a fair bit cheaper.

Edit: EAX5 is simulated rather than native but reports indicate that the ASUS cards do a very good job.

I've got a creative x-fi, very pleased with it and had no problems regarding drivers, its actually a replacement card after my first one decided to go a bit crazy, but creative sent me a replacement hassle free within a week, and support staff got back to me on the same day I emailed them, so not bad service at all, maybe I'm a exception to the rule though. That’s just my 2 cents; however given the option again I would go for the Auzentech or the Asus just to be on the safe side.

Right, i've done some more research and i have decided to get the Xonar DX as i really only need either dts connect or DDL. what do you reckon will i be happy with it.
one finally thing hopefully is could i buy the card from the states and would it work with my pc in the uk

Yes it would work fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by handscombmp

when you say it can't process dts soundtracks yuo mean i couldn't plug in the analoge jacks into thr back and expect 5.1surround with a dts soundtrack (thats fine though as it will be sent to an amp, hence the need for ddl)
we keep mentioning the eax5 and it does do them in vista by using creative alchemy software i found out but will the eax5 make a big differnece to my expericnce when gaming which i will use the card for most.

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dts is digital so its sent via opitcal or coaxial, with the x-fi unless you use software (if you don't decode externally) you won't get dts. you won't get dts via analogue fullstop. eax emulation by the asus is done quite well from what i've read, you certainly won't notice much of a difference between the asus and the x-fi based cards. i think eax will become less important as future games are becoming released cross platform and alot of the sound is done via ddl. but if it isn't then the asus can always emulate eax. probably the best solution in terms of function and price. think you'll be happy with the asus dx :) it's a good choice considering the cost