i've got an audigy2zs,
it sounds really nice,
i never have pops or anything similar,
with current drivers and a decent performance laptop its great,
superb for movies,
i looked into the indigo dj, but its lack of optical in and out and it 40 pounds higher price were a no no
most people on head-fi tend to say the zs card sounds crap,
i can hear the difference between 192 and 320 mp3s on my dt770, so i think i can comment a little on comparative sound
i've compared it to a nw-a3000 on line-out amped, the audigy sounds much better, the a3000 sounds the same as the hd5 and many people regard that to be the best sounding dap out there.
it also sounds better than my turtle beach,
i have the strong suspicion that people don't like creative as they are kinda monopolistic, same as people bash ipods,
i for myself like to have the opportunity of getting software upgrades and a nice support in the near future, this is guaranteed by creative, i rang them before i purchased the card and they answered all of my questions and the guy on the phone did seem very knowledgable,
i'm not saying the zs is the non-plus-ultra but i can't see it being so inferior in comparison to the indigo echo,as most people on here make it out to be.
i have a samsung laptop which has an optical line-out on-board, even the onboard soundmax doesn't his or crackle, i got the audigyzs because i needed some extra punch for my larger headphones
i was also interested in a bithead from headroom, but i'm not paying 40 to 50 dollars shipping to the u.k. besides 200 dollars for the actual item
resume: imho a very good sounding card, excellent for movies with surround sound