help a poor guy with a cheap sound card

[pennylane]

okay, i'll admit it. a couple years ago, i decided to get a new computer. and not knowing what "good sound" meant, i got a sound blaster live platinum

. (proceed with the mockings and tomato throwings and what not)
now, i want a new one. i play both games and listen to music on it, so i want high quality sound with the EAX 2.0 or whatever is out now. i have a 4 speaker set and plan on getting some nice closed headphones (mayb ethe hp890's) soon.


my budget is around $100 or less.
i heard the fortissimo 2 and turtle beach santa cruz are good.
i have done some searches, but i'm still a little confused.

 

[Eli's Adventure]

My brother has the Santa Cruz and i have the fortissimo II.
Out of both of them, i much prefer the Santa Cruz. The sound quality would be a big step up from your live! based card.

Also, maybe you could find the Audiofile 2496 for a good price. It gets really good reviews. But i haven't heard it, so i can't comment.

Your best bet is probably the Santa Cruz.

 

[Audio-Me]

Or Hoontech SoundTrack Digital XG, which doesn't have sucky dumb built in amps.

 

[john_jcb]

I have a Santa Cruz in my PC and I am pleased with it.

 

[Strogian]

If you really want the best EAX performance, you'll want the Audigy. If you really want the best music quality (in the same price range), you'll want a Santa Cruz.