I need a recommendation for a sound card with EAX support that isn't made by Creative
 

I am mainly getting this so I can have a better soundcard for gaming, but I also need good music quality as well. Around $50 is the maximum price range. Also, having EAX support and at least 5.1 audio is absolutely necessary. Good driver support and simple installation is a plus.

Thanks.

Creative is the developer and sole user of EAX.

What's wrong with having a Creative card anyway?

That's not entirely correct. Some manufacturers have their own implementation of older EAX versions. Many onboard sound solutions support EAX 2.0, for example. Their drivers suffer from compatibility issues, though.

I am one of the many people that experiences lock ups (i.e. I need to restart my computer because the computer just freezes) while playing games because of their sound cards (there's nothing I can do about it; updating drivers etc. doesn't work). From what I've read on different forums, you just need to get a new soundcard, because apparently no one has been able to find a solution (I have simply given up and I refuse to attempt to fix the problem yet again).

Are there any soundcards out there that are able to utilize the sound effects that are used in EAX even if they don't have EAX? For instance, you enable EAX in a game and it will give you EAX effects (it sounds strange, I know)?

Aside from that, what would be a soundcard that has good gaming capabilities in addition to good music quality?

Cheap hack hardware with unnecessary bloated gimmicks and horrid drivers.

I'm afraid you'll most likely have to buy a shitty creative card.
The kx drivers are a lot better than the horseshit drivers creative supplies, but it doesn't really change the fact creative should go to hell.

So can somebody give me a link to a soundcard (not made by creative) that I should buy?

Are these any good (or which one is the best)? If so which should I buy?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...419101&CatId=0

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...747731&CatId=0

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...068177&CatId=0

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...747730&CatId=0

Ooh, I have not heard of these. This is the site correct? Last time I checked, Creative didn't even have drivers for my card anymore.

That's the site. "The kX Audio Driver is an independent WDM (Windows Driver Model) driver for all EMU10K1 and EMU10K2-based soundcards"

So kx probably won't support your card if it's that old. Only live!/audigies. Only the audigy 2+ are worth buying from creative anyway, any lower and you're better off getting something from a decent company.

The kX driver doesn't even fully support EAX. So, what good is it.

Oh I don't know, maybe fixing the fucking horrible crackling the creative drivers gave me?

I don't really care about eax, I wish I had bought an m-audio audiphile.

My card's an EMU10k1 card, but beyond that I'm a little mystified. The box it came in (five years ago) says it's an Audigy MP3+, "The only 24-bith Multi-Channel Music Solution." The thing is, it's a PCI card, and the only device on Creative's site with the same name was a USB device. And once upon a time I found drivers on their site too, but now the only downloads listed under MP3+ are for the pack-in software.

I've thought about upgrading several times just so I have something that anyone has heard of, but does it even matter if I only have a 2-speaker setup?

In your case I don't think it would matter too much, especially since it's probably nearly identical to an audigy, shitty resampling and all.

I can verify that thing about the KXdrivers. Previously, my soundcard drivers were the most problematic piece of software in my computer, countless hours were spent messing with them, reinstalling them, etc. They also offered only VERY limited customization, I couldn't even properly set sound levels for all speakers independently, only linked through some shitty x/y bar which "simulated" a user in a room.

The kx drivers, although they have their share of bugs, are infinitely more useful. They offer over the top customization options (to tell the truth - most of the are VERY BASIC OPTIONS, its just that Creative had the liberty of leaving them off from their own drivers), and overall sound quality is much better too. Not things such as sound clarity though, just better volume levels to properly get my 5.1 set running.

What's so special about EAX anyhow? I used it on my Audigy2 for 2 years in games and when I moved to my AV710 I didn't notice any difference in positioning or anything, even though I no longer had EAX.

EAX blows but some games rely way too heavily on it to work in 5.1. I can't get Halo to work in 5.1 without missing music and half the sound effects on my kx drivers due to its shoddy eax support.

AFAIK the kx drivers have NO EAX support - no partial support, but really no support. Only direct sound 3d ist supported.