ok, i was all set to get a creative xtreme music card with this rig, when i heard about another card from auzentech. I'll stat the setup.

1 x PC ASSEMBLY AND TESTING (PRE-CONFIG OS IF PURCHASED)
1 x Add Microsoft Windows XP Home to your system for just $99
1 x Viewsonic E90FB 19 Inch CRT Monitor - 1920 X 1440 - 0.25MM - PC,MAC
1 x Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB 8.9MS Hard Drive 3 Year MFR Warranty
1 x Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse 2000DPI USB Bilingual
1 x LOGITECH MEDIA KEYBOARD Black ULTRA FLAT DESIGN W/ AUDIO CONTROLS & ENHANCED FUNCTION KEYS
1 x 1 Year Parts & 1 Years Labour Limited Warranty On System Components
1 x ASUS Quietdrive DVD-E616A Black 16X DVD-ROM CD-ROM 48X Retail Box W/SOFTWARE
1 x BenQ DW1650 Black DVD+-RW 16X Dual Layer DVD Writer OEM
1 x AuzenTech HDA X-PLOSION 7.1 DTS Connect DDL Sound Card PCI 32BIT Optical Output
1 x Fortron FSP Epsilon FX600-GLN 600W ATXV2 20/24PIN Power Supply SLI Ready W/ 120MM Fan Retail
1 x ATI Radeon X1900XT 625MHZ 512MB 256BIT 1.45GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I VIVO HDTV Video Card
1 x Mitsumi FA404A-BK 7-IN-1 Floppy Drive & Flash Reader CF/SM/SD/MMC/MS Black
1 x Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
1 x ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe ATX AM2 Nforce 590 SLI 2PCI-E16 1PCI-E4 1PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 1394 Motherboard
1 x AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 Windsor 2.6GHZ 2X512KB 89W 90NM OEM
1 x AeroCool ExtremEngine 3T-BK ATX Mid Tower Case Black 25CM Side Panel Fan 4X5.25 8X3.5INT No PS

these are the cards in question.

AuzenTech HDA X-PLOSION 7.1 DTS Connect DDL Sound Card PCI 32BIT Optical Output

Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Music 24BIT Sound Card

now i heard that the x-plosion works better with dts, and uses optical cables and is better for sound with the z-5500 speakers i'm getting. But i also heard that it is slightly worse when it comes to fps in games, but could make specifically in-game music better. so is this just a case of speed vs quality, or are there features that make one card stand out? What do you think is best for this rig?
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i'm not 100% on this but I was asking myself the EXACT same question when I went over to my local retailer. He said while the auzentech does support dts (dolby digital), the digital sound that the speaker would create using the x-plosion is only simulated. In order for the sound to be true digital the source must be created in a digital format. Right now barley any games support digital and the only reason to really get a digital setup would be if you are planning to watch a lot of movies or your a real audiophile. The average user won't notice the difference anyways. Just my opinion.

sooo... is that still a vote for the auzentech, or is it for the creative?

Given that choice, I'd have to recommend the Creative card...and not just because that's what I currently use.

yes creative

why... because of the slightly higher fps? just wondering about the reason? or do you just prefer it?

Because comparatively, I believe it to be a more powerful card in terms of its EAX options, CMSS-3D, and the fact that it has a positive impact on fps. I am not sure if there's an audible difference between the two, but if they're even close I'd likely chose the Creative card for these reasons.

ill just give my two cents... but only go for the X-FI if you want EAX support above 2.0... the FPS difference is more negligable IMO, and would only go to benefit you if your gaming performance is suffering to the point of studdering... whichcase 20-30FPS is all you would need to prevent that... (an Audigy 2 based card provides very similar functionality, its older, and has less features, yes, but the basic overall emphasis remains much the same)

if your speakers didnt have a digital signal decoder built in (or if you even wanted to use headphones alot), i would say to get the X-FI again, as it has a high analog SnR and quality DACs... but even that advantage is slim then, because i think the X-plosion (much like the X-mystique), has upgradable OPAMPS, thus improving your analog sound quality a great degree if you did decide to upgrade them... (i think Burr-Browns are one example of quality OPAMPS that you can upgrade to)

but, as far as audio quality over a digital connection is concerned, the X-plosion re-encodes all sounds in realtime into 6 seperate independant discrete channels (not simulated), capable of encoding into both DTS(DTS Interactive) and DD (Dolby Digital Live)... so for ALL of your gaming, music, and movies, you can get true 5.1 20bit DTS surround over your digital connection... Dolby Digital is only 16bit (which also is the same quality as the vast majority of commercial dvds and cds BTW)

and if you have an a/v receiver for example to connect it to that supports either Dolby Digital EX or DTS ES, you can have your surround upmixed from 5.1 to 6.1, or higher (provided you have enough speakers)... ...for your games (out of many possible things you could do then), thats a major boon to have

for the X-FI, to get surround for your games and such, youre more forced to use a multi cabled analog connection (whichcase watching dvds and such would have to take a back seat, unless you wanted to switch to a digital connection to watch them), because you cant get surround for your games or music over a digital connection with it... you only get 2 channels (because theyre not re-encoded into DTS or AC-3, and only come out as PCM)... ...and 2 channels isnt very good for a surround speaker setup anyhow, certainly not much better at all even if the surround is matrixed into Prologic II or DTS:Neo6 and such (even EAX is matrixed surround)

speaking of matrixed surround though, it wont matter if theyre over a digital connection or an analog connection, theyre output the same regardless

for the particular sound card that i own (a Turtle Beach Montego DDL), which has a slightly older chipset (8768+), compared to the X-plosions 8770 chipset... ive heard nothing but good things for the X-plosion, its supposedly noticably better than my card as well (makes sense, even with comparing the DDL encoding quality between both cards)... and i havent looked back to the Audigy 2 ZS i upgraded from ever since... ...theres simply a difference of 'wow', because the sound now was actually immersive for everything (which is also the key advantage of surround sound anyhow, over stereo sound), the same with discrete, over matrixed...

if youve already invested in an X-FI, then the point is moot... ...but if you havent yet, i would say to seriously give the X-plosion a chance

Your points seem very valid Choir, very valid.

Hey you seem VERY knowlegable about audio, so here's another question for ya.... what do you think about these headphones for my mp3 player?

I think these are pretty good, at least compared to the others on the site. Thats Canadian dollars btw. Also, do you need that 7hz range since the human ear can onlhy hear down to 20?

If you are running via digital out, then the surround sound processing is done via your external audio hardware.

If you're using analogue out, then its done by the card.

Given that few (if any) games support real-time surround sound in DTS, so contrary to what was said above DTS ES support in your amplifier won't be a consideration for gaming.

It is valid that the ability to upmix from 5.1 to 6.1 with external hardware is nice - but seeing as your thread is entitled 'card for the Z-5500' I presume this isn't a requirement.

The DSP on the X-Fi is so powerful for gaming, it depends what you want to do.

If you are looking to watch DVD's with surround sound, or listen to MP3/CD audio upmixed to surround then you will do absolutely fine with the X-Plosion and Digital out as your external amp/decoder whatever can handle that with ease.

However, if gaming is a heavy concern then yes you most definitely want an X-Fi. It's also a good all-rounder for music/video playback and also for audio editing if that is of any interest.

So - in my opinion the more versatile card is the X-Fi so it would be more to my tastes. If you're gaming, then its the one to go for - not least because of the DSP and standards it supports but also because (contrary to a few opinions) the FPS difference is worth considering, particularly in a game where the CPU can be a bottleneck.

If you aren't worried about gaming then there are plenty of cards on the market that offer good digital out to external hardware.

TBH, you can do better, IMO. ...and I'm not knowledgeable, just opinionated, so that must've been aimed at Choir. 8O However, for headphones, in that price range I'd recommend these, based on what I've read in my huntings... http://www.headphone.com/guide/by- [...] k-26-p.php

Hey Cor,
I would recommend the Creative card as well. If you can.... get one of the X-Fi extremes. Make sure it has the "Optical cable plug in though. However, check on the specs for the board you are getting because it may already have onboard digital.

I have the Asus A8N32 SLI-Deluxe and it has Analogue, Coaxial Digital, and Optical digital hookups. The onboard sound is Realtek AC-97. Some people have had some issues with it, but I can say that I have NONE whatsoever and the optical sound is clean, crisp, and clear.

My Z-5500's sound awsome on optical and whether I game or listen to live techno mixes & recordings, I am thoroughly pleased. So if you don't have optical hookups onboard, then I'm with Halcyon and go with Creative.

Good luck on your build bro

RIG specs
Antec P180 PerformanceSeries Mid-Tower Case
SeaSonic S12 600 watt power supply
Asus A8N32 SLI mobo AMD N-Force 4 SLIX16 (bios 1103 V02.58)
RealTek 97 onboard digital 5.1 Surround
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Toledo Core, 2 X 1mb L2 cache (AMD driver 1.3.1.0 w/MS hotfix & AMD Dual Core Optimizer)
2 gigs of Corsair TwinX3500LL Pro @ 437Mhz 2-3-2-6-1T
2- BFG 7900 GT OC 256mb in SLI (nvidia driver 91.31)
Western Digital RAPTOR 74.3 gig 10-K rpm HDD for XP & Apps
Maxtor SATA II 250 G HDD for gaming, movies, MP3's
Maxtor SATA II 250 G HDD for document backup (unplugged)
Sony CDrom 52X
Plextor 708-A DVD/CD rom
Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 THX 500watts

Ya those do look pretty good. The question is how do i get them. Are they available in Canada? If so where?