Which Sound Card?

[Chris_]

I'm looking towards purchasing an internal sound card, to use along with my Sennheiser HD 555s (headphones). Currently, I'm using onboard 7.1 surround and I've heard there's a noticeable difference in the quality. When I'm at my PC, I'll usually be listening to music.. or playing CSS or both. So I want the quality to remain high and not turn distorted / even mute.

I've been looking on MicroDirect and have seen that there are 2 Creative Soundblaster X-Fi's listed for the same price, now I am no good with sound specifications :x: so could someone tell me which would be best for gaming?

Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Series Extreme Music OEM - 30SB046000000 - microdirect.co.uk
Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Series Xtreme Gamer - 70SB073A02007 - microdirect.co.uk


I've heard good things about the Soundblaster X-Fi series, so I think I'd purchase either one of them, or something from another brand around the same price.

Also, I have heard something called EAX & CMSS or something comes with these cards, are these features which improve quality/performance? could someone kindly elaborate a bit on them? :rolleyes:

Thanks
- Chris :D

 

[Swansen]

well the Extreme Music series seem to be the winner here, but i would check out Turtle Beach, they make some real stellar units.
Turtle Beach > Sound Cards