I am building myself a nice new christmas present! I have everything worked out for what I am going to use, I am just undecided on which sound card to use. A friend told me to get the Auzentech XPlosion 7.1. He says it is a good choice. I was looking at the Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1. What do you guys think? Oh, I will be using this computer for gaming!

Auzentech = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829156001

Creative = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102006

Either you're a tad late or way off. Christmas is over

I'd personally go with Creative, however it has driver issues with Vista. So if you're running Vista, don't get it.

the creative card would be the way to go. But if you were going for the highend x-fi series..I would then recommend the X-Fi Prelude from Auzentech.

Hi

Christmas is not over. There is 11 months left - plenty of time - right??!!

I am using the X-plosion on Windows XP x64 on a dual-Opteron board and it works well. It support real-time DTS encoding over TOS and I use it with some Sony Digital IR headphones (it sounds sweet to me - better than DD-5.1 encoding over TOS). It only supports EAX 2.0 for gaming but this still sounds good for everyday usage.

If you are using Windows XP and are planning to use the analogue outputs then you probably want a Creative card.

If you are using Windows XP or Vista (I understand!!) and plan to use a TOS output (to Hi-Fi/headphones) then the Prelude is the best card as it supports the real-time DTS encoding over TOS and the latest EAX (5.0 I think??) for gaming (licensed from Creative). I plan to get this card when the Linux drivers are fully delivered (soon I hope)!!

I did have some issues with installing the Xplosion drivers but this is more to do with rubbish C-media (chipset manufacturer) installer that Auzentech have to use. They did not have the language code for the UK so I had to hack about in an .ini file to get it to install!!

Bob

I recently installed that Auzen card's big brother - The Prelude - on Vista 64, and:

(1) No driver issues (so far) - The driver/app package is kind of big, but very easy to understand and use.

(2) It sounds awesome enough that I threw out the Plantronics headset which I originally perceived as great and used to be very happy with. Using the Denon headphones from the living room until the Sennheisers get here. I also did another bad thing - For grins I plugged it into the living room surround system.... Well... She Who Must Be Obeyed forbids the computer (and I) to be permanently based in the living room. So, out came the wallet again.....

These 2 cards for gaming....it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.
Either will do quite nicely, personally I'd stick with the Creative card.
If you were looking for absolutely excellent sound, and willing to spend more cash, then I would look at the high end Auzentech cards, (like the Prelude) they are simply awesome.

I, too, am going to be rebuilding my computer in a few months, and have been having a difficult time deciding what to get. I will be running Vista 64-bit and want a card that can connect to the front panel and be good with games. I was thinking maybe the X-Fi XtremeGamer, but it seems that a lot of people have problems with that card, especially in Vista. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would greatly appreciate it!

>> bdcrlsn,

Try reading the rest of this thread... It can't be that taxing for you surely!!

Bob