Best soundcard for 2.1 setup?

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chineseman

[H]ard|Gawd
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Mar 28, 2004
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I was wondering what the best soundcard was for a 2.1 setup. I'm planning to buy the Swans M-10s soon and need a soundcard to go along with them. I play a lot of games, rarely watch movies / listen to music. Would getting a Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty be overkill for a 2.1 setup? Is the main benefit of EAX sound localization or does sound fidelity take a big hit in games if you don't have the latest EAX tech? I guess I'm looking for the best stereo quality for games and music. I don't use headphones or plan to upgrade past a 2.1 setup if it makes a difference.
 
EAX has limited support in Vista. If you are using XP Pro, then thats a different story. The Asus Xonar 7.1 looks like a fantastic card. Also if you can find one, a Creative X-FI Music edition as its the same as the other high end cards minus the X-Ram. Both of those cards are great. If you want to go cheap, Audigy 2 ZS cards can be had for under 30$ and still provide good sound.
 
I should've mentioned it but I already have an Audigy 2ZS, I'm wondering if X-Fi is worth the upgrade or not.
 
If you are big into sound then yes. If your not, those speakers will sound fine even with Vista on your Audigy 2 ZS. Solid card even without EAX. btw still rocking an A2 ZS here. And really since you have the card already why not try and and see how it sounds. If its acceptable to you, then your good. The big problem audio quality is very subjective for alot of people.
 
I personally wouldn't waste the swans on the Audigy 2 ZS as there are much better alternatives out there as far as SQ is concerned (my friend's ancient Terratec DMX 6Fire was subjectively more enjoyable than the Audigy). If you plan on upgrading, it really does depend on what price point you are looking at as well as what your priorities are (price vs. sound quality vs. performance). The Fatal1ty card actually uses the same CS4382 DAC as the Audigy 2 ZS, so it might not be as big of a step up in SQ as you would expect. If you're running Vista, you can forget about EAX (I would personally take a clear and detailed setup over EAX anyday for gaming). If not, an Auzentech Prelude (with the LM opamp) should strike a decent balance between the 3 due to the X-Fi chip and AKM DAC. Alternatives might include an ASUS Xonar D2, a HT OMEGA CLARO Plus+, something from M-Audio, or a Lynx L22 :p
 
If you play games get the sound blaster. EAX is not only about surround. If you play in 2.1 you want to hear all reverbs, occusions, and natural sound effects i.e. as they occur in nature. Many surround sound cards have better components used for front outputs anyway cus the fronts convey the most sound in any setup.

Edit - I noticed you have Audigy 2ZS already. If you stick to XP Audidgy 2 ZS is fine. But If you wnat to use Vista or are after best quality anyway then X-Fi Elite Pro or Prelude would be best gaming cards money can buy and should be cheaper now with the X-Fi Titanium coming up.
 
Just ordered the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty. Then I also ordered Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB, SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner SH-S203N, and CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 :mad: What started off as a simple monitor purchase (got the Doublesight DS-263N) last week, has turned into a full blown system upgrade since CompUSA had the crazy deal on the E8400 which I also bit on. I hate this site, I'm not coming back for another two years!
 
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