Is this sound card worth it?

[Airshehan]

I have been looking at the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series sound card and front panel. Is it worth what I would pay for it? The reason I would like to have a front panel is to connect my speakers in the rear and my headphones in the front. Am I going to be able to hear the difference? I'm using a motherboard integrated Realtek sound card. Is it worth $185? Is it a good sound card for gaming, music and movies? Thanks!

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by Airshehan

I have been looking at the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series sound card and front panel. Is it worth what I would pay for it? The reason I would like to have a front panel is to connect my speakers in the rear and my headphones in the front. Am I going to be able to hear the difference? I'm using a motherboard integrated Realtek sound card. Is it worth $185? Is it a good sound card for gaming, music and movies? Thanks!

Difference yes.

To pay $185? Heck no.

Get the HT Omega Striker.

[Airshehan]

I think I would like to stick to Creative X-FI. Is the Xtreme Gamer worth it? Do any of these cards have enough space for me to plug my speakers and my headphones in at the same time?

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by Airshehan

I think I would like to stick to Creative X-FI. Is the Xtreme Gamer worth it? Do any of these cards have enough space for me to plug my speakers and my headphones in at the same time?

Creative cards are junk imho and many people will tell you that.

The Omega Striker can be had for $80 at times and is a very good sub $100 card that does everything you want.

[headsh0t]

My X-fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro (and whatever else you wanna throw on the end of that lol) works good. No issues. But ya I bought it for like $150, although it was a couple years ago. I've got the front bay that I could sell you if you can find just the card, since I dont use it at all. This is what I've got:

Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro Series 70SB046A00000 - Get the fastest performance and the most intense, realistic audio in your games
Sound Blaster X-Fi I/O Drive Upgrade Kit - Add a dedicated headphone jack, additional audio I/O and a wireless remote to your Sound Blaster X-Fi equipped PC

X-fi would probably be better for gaming since it's got the EAX support. If you really wanna grab an X-fi though, get Azuntech. Don't have one (obviously) but hear they're supposed to be slightly better than the ones from creative. I dunno if the Prelude is still around, but I think the Forte replaced it. They still use the x-fi chips though.

[lowfat]

Originally Posted by headsh0t

If you really wanna grab an X-fi though, get Azuntech. Don't have one (obviously) but hear they're supposed to be slightly better than the ones from creative. I dunno if the Prelude is still around, but I think the Forte replaced it. They still use the x-fi chips though.

This. Grab a Prelude or a Forte and just use the front panel audio on your case for your headphones. They are much cheaper than what you linked and considerably better.

[Babrbarossa]

Yeah- I have the prelude, but I like the low-profile forte- you can get it for $130 and contrary to many, I like the dongle that attached to the back since I'm alway plugging and unplugging- you can actually see where you're plugging things in. And it's hidden behind the computer anyway.

I also have the HT Omega and I would say that if you can get a forte for $50 more dollars and you care about sound, then it's worth it (although the omega is a good value)

[Sushi Warrior]

Asus Xonar DX, you don't need X-Fi anymore as audio is moving to OpenAL.

[lowfat]

Originally Posted by Sushi Warrior

Asus Xonar DX, you don't need X-Fi anymore as audio is moving to OpenAL.

He needs a front panel audio connector.

[grinder]

to clarify: does his PC case have the front headphone connector jack?