Hi, I’m returning my Soundblaster Z (again) because the mic is faulty. Shame though because that beamforming mic was the greatest thing since jesus. Seriously, Creative deserve an award or something for that mic, I can NOT go back to a normal mic, I may never use mics again lol.
But I need a card that isn’t faulty, and one that works in Linux so here are my two choices:
Asus ROG Xonar Phoebus Solo
or
ASUS Xonar D2X/XDT
Do either of those work in Linux?
**ASUS Xonar D2X/XDT is working right now in Debian and alos in Ubuntu. Out of the box and the sound is superb. **
Downside - There is a constant pulse (click) when the volume is beyond halfway. Uncertain if its speaker volume unit, Asus is investigating. One more thing you will need a 4 pin power lead and ASUS only have email support for soundcards. Pulse is Windows too. Finally, you will hear a click when you boot PC that is fan relay on card, and is normal.
Hope it helps.
Steve