You forgot to mention that this CRAP is software emulation of the real thing (creative).

I would be very pleased to see some Creative fanboys failing to distinguish their real thing from the cheaper "crap" in a blind test... It may be that such people just can't swallow the fact that others buy the same (and sometimes even higher) quality for half the price.

And by the way, no matter the source, a 150$ sound system hooked to the output will make all the best sound cards sound pretty the same way. I wonder how many people think about that when they buy an X-Fi Elite Pro.

For me, it is sad that there is no Linux support yet, but it seems that Asus is one of the best linux supporters, so they might fix this soon.

As for the real thing ...
I do prefer dedicated hardware, but the fact that it can encode multichannel stream to DD or DTS stream over optic is great.
Currently i have 3 cables going from computer to receiver and it's mess .

Make it PCI-E, add linux support and i'll buy it even without "Real thing"

Auzen and Asus have improved soundcards, but there is still a long way to go. 2 cent op-amps still on both cards - what's up with that, I mean even a good op-amp is a compromise. And all cards are obsolete now since they don't support high definition audo formats Dolby HD or DTS HD, that one is going to get with Blu-Ray. Every review I have read ignores this consideration.

Lot of software, drivers and emulators. How many process is running with this, and how about processor load in games ? how is it with all sofware disabled or unsinstalled? Even with high-end rigs
you will want every ounce of perf for the games, all this software is bunch of BS most gamers will run their games with unnecessary
graphic options to low or disabled, same goes with eax and sound stuff.

I need Dolby HD or DTS HD to be a standard feature before I would even consider buying another card ever again

Correct me if I'm wrong but isnt all sound in Vista software based now? What I mean is only OpenAL can be driven by hardware as EAX won't functioin in Vista anymore. So Creative had to implement ALchemy to take the EAX calls and send them to OpenAL. Does that make EAX in Vista software based or is it still hardware based, I'm confused.

Also, why can't Creative put ALchemy's functions directly into the drives of the X-Fi cards? Why should I have to use another software to implement the calls, can't a driver detect this stuff and implement it for me?

Please provide any insight, it would be greatly appreciated.

Actually the card is supported in linux quite well. It uses the snd-oxygen module in ALSA.

Here is the link to the ALSA Module
http://alsa-project.org/main/index.php/User:ClemensLadisch

PCI = DO NOT WANT

I'll wait for the PCI-E version, kthx.

the PCIE version is out there already man..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE& amp;N=50001315+40000057&Manufactory=1315&SubCateg ory=57&SpeTabStoreType=0

They have Xonar D2X and Xonar DX for you, both are PCIE version

I keep thinking that some one will create a card that will allow the creation of a high end HTPC that can serve as a pre-pro (like the Integra DTC-9.8). It l needs to accept HDMI inputs and peel off the audio portion and decode to 7.1 channels of output and then pass the HDMI signal on to the display. I know that a pre-pro like this costs about $1500. Am I the only one that is looking for a product like this?

Im getting one soon. to pair up with Z5500. I need a guru about this. pls ad me thry my nickname for the msn. i have lots of question to ask about this card. guide please. thanks.!

and oh, im getting this because of the design mainly, 2nd i dont know, thats why i need to ask.