woomehoo

I need to buy a new soundcard, and I was wondering are there any recommendations?
I have Logitech Z5500, my budget is $100 and below.
Forgot to mention that I'm using a PC.

Thanks

>GSXR<mrbusa

Under 100.00 there is not allot of choices other than the Xfi series that will sound as good. All of the other quality cards that can compete with the Xfi are in the 150-200 range. There are going to be people that will tell you anything not manufactured by Creative is the way to go. The problem with that is it just is not true. When a company has 99% market share with a particular item it is hard for other companies to compete with price. There are cards out there that will blow an Xfi away with sound quality and functionality but like I said they are more expensive. Some people will sacrifice quality just not to own a Creative product. Xfi XP drivers are mature enough to be considered stable and from what I can tell Vista drivers are coming along. Of coarse I am basing my post off of listening to my brothers Xfi and from what I have seen in forums and reviews. I do not personally own an Xfi yet because I am not in a place anymore to be able to use speakers. I use headphones and for that purpose my ZS is just fine. You can get an Audigy2 ZS pretty cheap if you can find it new and way cheap if you get a used one off Ebay or CL. Here are some examples in that price range. For audio and video any of these cards are in the same class. If you add gaming into the mix then the Xfi is the only way to go.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102006
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829156003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829271001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829127002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829156001

H3X4D3C1M4L

XFi is the only real option these days isn't it?

Arklon

Not true, look at the $80 Auzen X-Plosion. If you want EAX 3-5 (AKA EAX Advanced HD), then it won't impress you much, but if you don't own any EAX 3-5 games, then the Auzen will be better. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829156001 It also has swappable opamp sockets, so if you use the analog outputs, you can give the sound quality a quick upgrade. If you want EAX 3-5 later, you could get an Audigy 2 (for up to EAX 4) or an X-Fi Xtreme Gamer (for up to EAX 5), and use Velbac to output the sound processed by the X-Fi through the better output section of the X-Plosion. That does, however, mean two cards, two PCI slots, and around twice as much money.