Which sound card recommended

[Supergrover]

Originally Posted by Robscix

Long story that has been told to death.

I agree but still relevant IMO couple this with the audigys ( EMU10K2) that couldn't produce 24bit sound even though they totted this on the box. I believe they were sued over this. At least I remember getting a kickback from the lawsuit but never used it.
It speaks volumes about the company's agenda

[chrisk]

I have the Asus Xonar DX as well...drivers are far more stable and better than Creative's stuff. I got the PCI-E version. Supports emulation of EAX 5.0, but this is no real biggie if you use Vista anyways.

Great explanation of this here: Asus' Xonar DX sound card - The Tech Report - Page 1

Great sound card for the money.

[Robscix]

Originally Posted by Supergrover

I agree but still relevant IMO couple this with the audigys ( EMU10K2) that couldn't produce 24bit sound even though they totted this on the box. I believe they were sued over this. At least I remember getting a kickback from the lawsuit but never used it.
It speaks volumes about the company's agenda

I understand what your saying. I meant I wasn't going to tell the story again.
I don't deal with them. The clost I come to them is the Prelude and that is much different then any Cretaive X-fi. In my experience anyway. The entir market has changed on them now. They are no longer the king of thehill. Rather the jester now. Auzen and Asus are battling fo the top post now. Steady competition is how it should be in any market. Cretive labs and their products over the last how many years is a fine example of what can happen when commpetition doesn't drive a companies decisions and products releases.
The cards they release now are fo the budget market. They don't build the "best" soundcard anymore..they relly never did, they just didn't have any competion so poeple didn't really have any other choice. There are choices now and many have jumped ship on CL....

[Robscix]

Originally Posted by chriskwarren

I have the Asus Xonar DX as well...drivers are far more stable and better than Creative's stuff. I got the PCI-E version. Supports emulation of EAX 5.0, but this is no real biggie if you use Vista anyways.

Great explanation of this here: Asus' Xonar DX sound card - The Tech Report - Page 1

Great sound card for the money.

This website reviewed it awhile back. Have alook here:LINK

[chrisk]

Sorry Robscix...your review is similar to the one I linked! Good job.

I always had troubles with Creative drivers, and that Daniel_K situation sealed the deal for me. I did go out and get a Zen for cheap a month ago and have loved it, but I doubt I will ever recommend their products again. Too expensive (related to competitors), too buggy, and the forced obsolescence and lying to customers to get them to buy new products is just insane.

OP: The Xonar DX is a really good value. I could not find a poor review of it when I went looking for a new card a while back. It is pretty small in size as well, allowing for better airflow/space in your case. The only thing is that the Xonar needs a power connector (uses the floppy power connector). If you have money to burn the Xonar D2 (ASUS Xonar 7.1 D2 Review ) has a few more bells and whistles, but I doubt you will need something like this.

[kav]

Thanks for the info guys! I'm totally forgot about the budget thing. I would say that I would be okay spending anywhere from $50-100 depending on how much more a more expensive one would make a difference.

I'm reading those reviews now!