Which Sound Card to buy? Audigy2 or Digifire or Santa Cruz?

[rigdon]

Well since my SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 is really getting on my nerves at the moment and it's quite aged now I'm thinking of updating my sound card. From the three main Sound Card Manufacturers I'm assuming these cards are the best they have to offer. Which one do you think I should buy then?
No fanboyism please

 

[CosmoKramer]

If gaming is high on the priority list get the A2.

 

[rigdon]

Ok, well here are the prices of the cards.

Audigy 2 (OEM) - £58.63
Audigy 2 (Retail) - £83.43

Hercules Fortissimo III 7.1 - £42.30
Hercules Digifire 7.1 - £58.16

M-Audio Revolution 7.1 - £72.79

These prices are from www.overclockers.co.uk

Which one?

 

[AAlcHemY]

Terratec has also good sound cards, mostly cheaper than soundblaster and better sound.

 

[Forbidden Donut]

I have a santa cruz right now. It's sound quality for music is quite nice (although I hear the audigy 2 is comparable, or possibly better) and is much much better than the live I had before it. Right now, from what I can gather, the two major contenders in the market are the audigy 2 and the M-Audio Revolution. The revo is considered slightly better for music, but it takes a pretty big processor hit for audio in games.

However, I haven't heard either, so I can't comment from first hand experience.