low-mid end replacement for audigy 2 zs

[Sage Osaka]

so my old as time audigy 2 zs bit the dust last week and i'm looking for a replacement for it. 75% of the time i'm listening to everything i do through my hd 650's amp/dac'd through e7/e9... but when i have friends over and were just hanging out listening to music or watching a movie or something, i switch to my speakers (z2300's) shitty speakers i know, but as part of my question, i'm probably going to be upgrading those in the near future to either a set of swan m10/20's or a decent pair of bookshelves. i originally was looking at the STX but ive been reading that people don't suggest bothering with it unless you're going to be amping some headphones through it, and i think i'll get better performance through my e7/e9(i guess i could get some clarification on that too?)

TLDR block of text: mid'ish end sound card to replace my dead audigy 2 zs to drive z2300's and eventually swan m10/20s or a decent pair of bookshelves.

 

[mannyman]

Xonar DG is a good card and its cheap.

 

[Tacoboy]

The Asus Xonar DG (PCI) sound card (really good price at Newegg) comes with Dolby Digital, surround sound for headphones.
The Xonar Essence STX would be nice, you could plug your HD650s straight into the headphone jack of the STX and sell off the E7/E9, the E9 and STX use the same headphone amplifier chip.
The STX also comes with Dolby Digital.