yes and no ....
1. http://www4.tomshardware.com/video/20021106/index.html
2. an sblive with hacked audigy drivers = 75% of audigy 2
3. an audigy is a very solid card, so if you want to use all advantages of the card the upgrade is "usefull" if you say na .. 2.1 is enough for me and I do not need any of the features stay at live ...
for 5.1 XP go audigy ... i can recommend it and its not very expensive you can get a A 2 ZS for 80€ in ebay ...

Having owned and used both 16-bit and 24-bit Soundblasters, I think the number ONE thing to consider is your speaker system. If it is only mediocre (sound quality), then switching to a 24-bit Audigy card won't gain you any sound improvement at all. If you have a high-end set of speakers w/ subwoofer, then yes ... you'll most definitely hear the difference.

My speaker setup consists of both the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 and Monsoon MM2000 speakers. The Klipsch 2.1 are comprised of two front speakers driven at 55 watts/channel along with a 50 watt subwoofer (total of 160 watts). The Monsoon MM2000 is comprised of 4 flat-panel satellite speakers each driven at 60 watts per speaker along with a 100 watt subwoofer (total of 340 watts).

I have them configured as follows -
The Klipsch 2.1 are driven by the front right/left speaker outputs from an Audigy 1 Platinum card. Two of the Monsoon flat-panel speakers are driven by the center channel output and the remaining two are driven by the rear speaker output. The subwoofers are wired out of phase since if they were in phase, the bass output would be extremely boomy (not a good thing).

The sound quality of the Monsoon (as configured to provide center channel dialog and rear "effects") is outstanding. These flat-panel speakers are very open and airy with excellent midrange response and clear undistorted highs. The bass output of the Monsoon subwoofer is very tight and smooth where the Klipsch subwoofer is somewhat boomy and muddled. The Klipsch mains though are very good at sound effects and the general mayhem produced in most sound tracks (DVDs) and games, so they work well for that purpose.

Music quality through ALL these speakers is a fairly good match and reproduction is very smooth and effortless. With that much reserve power on tap, it doesn't take much of a turn on the "knob" to produce room shaking results, whether it's a game or a DVD. I have the Platinum version of the Audigy 1 so I also have the remote (which comes in handy when you're sitting across the room). Music reproduction in 5.1 mode is extremely impressive, by the way.

I'm using the Audigy 2 drivers (hacked version) and find that these drivers provide enough of an improvement in sound quality and features (over the standard Audigy 1 drivers) to justify the time required to install them. It's a fairly simple hack to modify the Audigy 2 drivers to get them to install on a non-Audigy 2 system, by the way.

So, the answer is 'yes' AND 'no'. If your speaker system is of sufficient quality to take advantage of the improvement in sound that the Audigy 1 or 2 provides, then by all means go for the upgrade. If your speakers are only of marginal or mediocre quality, then chances are you'll never hear the difference (between a 16-bit card and a 24-bit card) anyway so don't waste your money.

Be aware too that the ONLY sound card that supports DVD-Audio is the Audigy 2 (native hardware support). If you have any interest in DVD-Audio, then the Audigy 2 is the only solution at the moment (at least that I am aware of).

Later.

The speaker i am using is creative combridge sound works 2.1 which may be old but this speaker is somekind of good for me. Eventhough, i use head phone most of the time cause i don't want to disturb my friends that stat at the same dominatory.

My speaker set is Sony SRS-D313 (not planning to upgrade); right now I have a SB Live Value 2.0 with digital out ...

I was wondering if I should upgrade to a SB Audigy 2 ZS (at the right price now?)

Those extra features are useless to me; but I am very interested in improving "sound quality" on mp3 and DVD movies playback (if possible), so should I upgrade?

P.S. I don't have a hardware dvd-drive? that support DVD-Audio (which ones do? I am planning to get a DVD-Writer, considering whether to get the Sony or Pioneer model), and I don't have anything encoded in 24-bit format (or can't find anything except those sample sound)

Also can I use SACD or other "improved" Music CD format on my regular CD-Rom? (Those CDs are encoded in 24-bit, I think)

The speaker i am using is creative combridge sound works 2.1 which may be old but this speaker is somekind of good for me. Eventhough, i use head phone most of the time cause i don't want to disturb my friends that stat at the same dominatory.

Again, depending on the quality of your headphones, you may or may not notice a difference in sound quality. I've never used headphones with either a 16-bit or 24-bit card sound card so I can't comment on the headphone preamps built into those cards. One can only assume that the 24-bit cards sound better though due to the higher quality DACs feeding the headphone preamps.

As an aside, NewEgg has the Audigy 1 card currently listed in stock for $57 and with the Audigy 2 drivers installed, gets you everything the Audigy 2 card can delivery (sound quality wise) with the exception of DVD-Audio. That's for the OEM version, by the way. The OEM Audigy 2 card is listed for $68.

The nice thing about NewEgg is that they are just like Fry's in that you can buy something, try it out and return it for a full refund, no questions asked (as long as it doesn't state otherwise in the ad). At least that way you can try out one of the Audigy cards and make an informed decision first hand. If you like the card, keep it. If not, take it back. If there is a Fry's within driving distance of you, you can do the same thing there. Plus, you get 30 days to make up your mind. They just re-shrink-wrap the box and throw it back on the shelf when you return it so look for one that DOESN'T have the "restocked" sticker on it.

To my way of thinking, I would try and find the best deal I could on the Audigy 1 Platinum (either new or used on eBay) and run with the Audigy 2 drivers. From what I understand and have read, the headphone preamp that's built into the Platinum drive bay expansion module is excellent and provides both a volume control (a knob) along with remote control functions for listening from across the room. I wish I knew more about your speakers but what I do recall is that they are fairly articulate and have a smooth response. Not a lot of volume but for their size they are adequate.

An interesting alternative to standard stereo headphones are the new Zalman XM-RS6F 5.1 Surround Headphones. They've gotten some excellent reviews and are said to be outstanding for gaming as well as general music listening. I have seen them on sale at Jab-Tech.com for $49.95, which is an excellent bargain. Here's a fair and unbiased review -
http://www.sepco.com.au/reviews/zalmanheadphones.asp

To recap, I think the best bang for your buck would be to go with the Audigy 1 and install the Audigy 2 drivers. If you want an excellent headphone preamp, try and find a good deal on the Audigy 1 Platinum and run with the Audigy 2 drivers. If you just can't live without DVD-Audio then the only solution is the Audigy 2. By the way, the Audigy 1 Platinum drive bay expansion module will plug right into the Audigy 2 expansion header and is pin-for-pin compatible.

If you're looking to get into 5.1 surround sound at an insanely low price, then the new Zalman 5.1 headphones are an excellent value (especially if you're into gaming and/or watching DVDs).

Later.

My speaker set is Sony SRS-D313 (not planning to upgrade); right now I have a SB Live Value 2.0 with digital out ...

I was wondering if I should upgrade to a SB Audigy 2 ZS (at the right price now?)

Those extra features are useless to me; but I am very interested in improving "sound quality" on mp3 and DVD movies playback (if possible), so should I upgrade?

To begin, the sound quality of the MP3 files you're listening to is determined by the level of compression of the files themselves. If they were ripped at a 128-bit rate (about the minimum for fair sound quality) then obviously a 320-bit rate will sound a LOT better. That old saying applies here --- you can't polish a turd (meaning that if an MP3 file is encoded at a low bit rate, it'll sound like crap no matter what sound card you're using).

As to the sound quality of DVD movies, the newer decoder chips in the Audigy 1 and 2 cards definitely have the capability of providing better sound quality. Again though, it depends on your speaker system (not to mention your ears) as to whether or not that improvement is audible or not.

P.S. I don't have a hardware dvd-drive? that support DVD-Audio (which ones do? I am planning to get a DVD-Writer, considering whether to get the Sony or Pioneer model), and I don't have anything encoded in 24-bit format (or can't find anything except those sample sound)

There is no such thing as a DVD-Audio "drive" for a PC. They (PC-based DVD drives) are ALL DVD-Audio compatible. The only requirement is for them to pass the 24-bit/96KHz encoded audio stream across the bus to the sound card (which they all do). It's up to the sound card to decode that stream (which at the moment, the Audigy 2 has that market cornered). So, to answer this question, it doesn't matter which DVD drive you get. They ALL provide the capability to decode DVD-Audio.

Also can I use SACD or other "improved" Music CD format on my regular CD-Rom? (Those CDs are encoded in 24-bit, I think)

Nope. SACD is a SONY proprietary encoding format and they haven't licensed it to any of the PC add-on card manufacturers (yet). The same thing applies to HDCD and at the moment, the ONLY venders that support those formats are audio component manufacturers (the folks that make standalone SACD and HDCD players).

I've listened extensively to both DVD-Audio and SACD and there really is no difference in either sound quality or what those two formats can provide (their "feature sets"). What's important to understand in all this is that it's the quality of the amplifiers and the speakers themselves that will determine the overall effect and impact of these formats. SACDs and DVD-Audio require full-range speakers in ALL quadrants of the listening environment connected to high quality amplifiers.

In a PC environment we're dealing with MUCH smaller spaces (the distance between you, your speakers and your monitor) and although the resulting prices are much lower (because everything is smaller), you will NOT get the same results that you'd get in a full-sized home environment. You'll get a pretty good idea of the potential, but there's an obvious difference.

SACD and DVD-Audio is not a matrix like Dolby surround sound. It requires seperate amplifiers and seperate full range speakers for each direction of sound (front right, center, from left, rear right, rear left and subwoofer) and they all have to be MATCHED in frequency response.

In that respect, to take advantage of the sound envelope that multi-channel SACD and DVD-Audio provides, a 2.1 speaker system only gets you half of what those formats deliver. So, you just won't hear the rest of what's in the recording and you'll miss out on what those formats are really all about (their multi-channel capabilities).

Later.

Thanks for the detailed reply, Old_Fart.

I am looking at a local store, they have:

Sound Blaster Audigy-2 6.1 PCI 24bit 106DB w/SB1394 (oem) $67.5

Sound Blaster Audigy-2 ZS 7.1 PCI ( retail) $82.5

Which one should I get?

I would take the ZS ....
normally the upgrade is not worth the money BUT since you want to buy a soundcard ... the get a right one ... maybe in 1/2 a year u think about new speakers and then you can go 7.1 without problems ...

Thanks for the detailed reply, Old_Fart.

I am looking at a local store, they have:

Sound Blaster Audigy-2 6.1 PCI 24bit 106DB w/SB1394 (oem) $67.5

Sound Blaster Audigy-2 ZS 7.1 PCI ( retail) $82.5

Which one should I get?

Mertsch has an excellent point in that SOME day you may want to upgrade your speaker system and with the additional support for 7.1 (not that there's any 7.1 media out there right now), you'll be ready for that future technology when the material begins to appear. And too, there's so little difference in price ($15), why NOT go for the newer hardware?!

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the Audigy cards, but that's just my opinion. Just make sure you can take it back and get a full refund if you're NOT happy with the sound quality ... AND make sure you post you thoughts (here in W2S) after you've had some time to listen.

We all enjoy hearing about new hardware and reading reviews from REAL people. I think that's important from the standpoint of how you perceive your purchase when you actually HAVE to spend money on something versus having a company just send someone a product to review. When you have to spend your hard earned money on something (whether it's a sound card or a new CPU or whatever), what you write about it means more to us than if you got it for free (like the big review sites). I, for one, tend to believe reviews from REAL people more so than 99% of the reviews by the so called "experts". So, please share your thoughts with us when you've had time to fully evaluate your purchase. We will ALL appreciate your input.

Later.

Hey thanks for the opinions, everyone here is " :angel: " harted. I appreaciate and thanks (oncemore) for helping making this hard decision.

The headphonei am currently using is the "Philips HEADPHONE SBC HP160" does any know this one? it is quite good for me.

Thanks again.