[_Spanky_]

I have a Creative X-Fi Fatality XtremeGamer Pro. It's also modded. Most, if not all the mods are done for the analog outputs which I no longer use due to my external DAC. Right now, I use the card for games and music but for movies I use my onboard because there's too much and too loud popping when stopping or starting playback. Now it just hit me the other day that one of the mods on my sound card is that the muting transistors are bypassed. I remember when I used the analog, having the muting transistor mod, there wasn't any difference that I could tell. Perhaps this mod only affects the digital output?

If so, and I'm not benefiting from any of the analog mods on the card, would it be wise to upgrade to a newer card that still has the muting transistors? I know a whole lot doesn't change and newer hardware doesn't have more or better features than my current card but I'm thinking I could sell my card and get a PCI-E card with digital output and still have some money left over, all while keeping the same features.

Now, if the consensus is to get a new card, what would be a good one? I don't hate Creative and don't have any problems running my current card. Basically, I would just want to be able to have EAX output in a digital format.

 

[Hybrys]

Forte is a nice choice. Or another X-Fi, if you liked yours.

 

[_Spanky_]

What would be the best/cheapest card for digital output that still has the X-Fi chip?

Also, could any DIY'ers confirm the muting transistor issue?