Razer AC-1 or Creative X-Fi sound card?

[James Crysis]

I'm thinking about upgrading from my onboard sound to a good quality sound card. It's either the AC-1 or an X-Fi Fatal1ty Pro. I'm leaning more towards the AC-1 because it's $20 cheaper, but I recently had a bad experience with Razer (got two Lycosa keyboards in a row that had faulty touch-panels).

I'm mainly looking for suggestions from people that own/have used these cards before. Let me know what you think about these cards - good and bad!


Thanks.

[Rob Williams]

How much are these cards going for nowadays? I think you'll get better sound from the X-Fi, but sometimes Woot.com offers the AC-1 for insanely low prices ($~60).

The ASUS Xonar is the card I'd personally recommend, but I'm no audiophile, but rather a wannabe audiophile.

[Kougar]

The ASUS Xonar is the card I'd personally recommend, but I'm no audiophile, but rather a wannabe audiophile.

Who says you need to be an audiphile to enjoy the $80 Xonar DX? I am so loving this card, don't need a high-end speaker setup to hear the difference between it and HD Azalia.

I'd vote for option three, the Xonar DX. Probably doesn't help ya though, sry. :p

[Rob Williams]

I'll pretend I didn't forget about the nicely-priced Xonar DX...

[James Crysis]

I'd vote for option three, the Xonar DX. Probably doesn't help ya though, sry. :p

Sure it helps me :P
I'm open to all options. I haven't been able to read through reviews for all the cards out there so let me know if there is anything else I should be considering aswell. I'll have a look at the DX.

[b1lk1]

Xonar. There is no other sound card as far as I am concerned.