[Scart]

I really want to pick up a par of Tritton AX 360's as my saitek POS headphones broke.
I would like to take advantage of the optical quality, so I am considering picking up the prelude as it seems like a great card (140 at ncix right now after rebate). I do however have some concerns as I am running vista 64 bit, and i have heard some mixed things about sound cards being useless with the removal of the HAL or something, but something else about alchemy being able to work around it.
ALL help and better suggestions are greatly appreciated.

PS. I am currently in my first year for my B.Sc. in engineering so i do not get to work much and make much money, so value is a factor. Also, if something better will be coming around soon, and it would be much better to wait a while, I am fine with that too.