i didn't realize the fatal1ty pro was supposed to be the fastest, but i suppose that doesn't sway me much. that is a good option to consider though, it's a lot cheaper than the prelude and i didn't realize it had DTSC (only really need DDL or DTSC). thanks for bringing that up.
i've looked at a couple reviews for the razer barracuda card, which didn't rate it as anything special. it's plenty capable but really nothing extraordinary. besides, call me crazy but i kinda want something with solid caps.
i looked into the meridian actually, seems as though it's impossible to find though.
at this point it's either the prelude at ~$180, or the fatal1ty pro at ~$130. i suppose EAX 5.0 is worth an x-fi based card, i just want DDL/DTSC to send to my HT, and good DAC + opamps for a cushy pair of denon ah-d2000s someday. kinda sucks the fatal1ty pro doesn't have a front panel, i might consider looking at the champion.
are there any other major differences between the professional and the champion besides the I/O and remote?
there are no soundcard differences between the X-Fi Fatal1ty Champion and the X-Fi Elite Pro. The Elite uses the remote I/O console, the Champion uses the 5.25" bay front panel console. The front panel connection can be modded to accept the pins from a standard AC97/Azalia connector, but it requires some work, and one must purchase a connector that will fit the sound card plug. Some of the X-Fi's already have the 10-pin AC97 pinout connection, but I don't think the newer Fatal1ty's do yet . . .
you won't find much in the way of solid caps on the Fatal1ty card, though, as Creative still uses standard style ones. Although, if you're good with PCB soldering, all the components on the Fatal1ty can be swapped out for better quality components, which, to the best of my knowledge, brings the card closer to the Auzen Prelude sound quality range - I still haven't done this mod yet myself, as I've just been lazy the last couple of months (and it's hard to solder properly with a splint finger
).
The Fatal1ty is rumored to be capable of DDL, but we haven't seen a driver that supports that feature yet
the reason you're having such a hard time finding an Auzen X-Meridian is due to the fact that they were discontinued last June. You might find an online shop that still has one or two, but you'll prob only find them on ebay at this point.
Anyhow, just a brief summary of the 4 cards that have been discussed, without all the jargon - for the general rule of thumb - the best sounding high-end cards use the C-Media APU; while the fastest use the X-Fi APU.
Except when it comes to the Auzen Prelude - Auzentech went and completely designed a PCB and component layout with the architecture of the X-Fi APU in mind, for the best sound quality possible. But, although it stouts a Creative APU, is the reason why the card isn't considered to be "fastest".
Creative's card, though, was designed with performance in mind (targeted at the gamer), but sacrifices some sound quality to achieve that goal.
The Razer card is fast, also, but is hampered by an APU that isn't designed for sheer audio performance - but it makes up for that fact by providing the same, or
very slightly better sound quality than the Fatal1ty - so slight, in fact, I don't think any of us could ever hear the difference.
The Asus card is solid (as are all their hardware), and although it offers much better sound quality over the Fatal1ty, it falls just short of the Prelude - again, I doubt any of us would actually "hear" the difference between the Prelude and the Xonar. But, utilizing the C-Media APU, it falls very short in the performance category when compared to the Prelude's X-Fi APU.
Oh, and I'm sure you already understand this, but for anyone else browsing this thread - a high-end sound card doesn't mean squat when coupled with a cheap, poor quality set of speakers!