New
#1
Choosing A New Sound Card
It appears that my sound card has croaked on my primary rig, and I'm looking for another. Recalling past discussions along these lines, it seems that there are three choices for me...the Creative Labs SB X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty, Asus Xonar D2X 7.1 PCIe or something in the Auzentech line. I say "something" simply because I haven't looked at them too closely yet. The reason for this is because I understand that they use a Creative chipset, which I assume would need a Creative driver, which is the primary reason that I'm considering anything other than Creative in the first place (I resent them deliberately attempting to obsolete older cards).
I still like the Creative card that I listed, because it does have a drive bay unit, but it appears so simplistic, that I'm not sure that it would be worthwhile to me.
Where my problem is, is that there are so many facets to consider while comparing these cards, that I get confused easily and I'm hoping that someone will be able to simplify the subject. What should I look for to decide?