audigy 4 is worst then ZS version of audigy 2 although its newer technology, as the iTram and xTram memory of audigy 4 is less then audigy2 by a considerable margin...im assuming you will be getting an audigy4 w/o anything behind the number 4.

This post has been edited by bryanyeo87: Jul 31 2007, 01:55 AM

Anyway, I have nothing against the audigy as a product, but I just want to give some advice - when I first started recording, I actually bought an audigy 2 ZS. Now, looking back, it was a wasted investment. (Now, that was quite some time ago - kX drivers may make it more flexible, but the sound quality isn't going to change)

The problem with them is that they're _NOT_ professional gear. You're not going to get balanced I/O, XLR connectors, good quality preamps, headphone amps, routing capabilities (unless you use kX), etc..

Not that I want to discourage any audigy buyers, but if what you're looking for is recording gear, once you get a proper audio interface (like me - I dumped the audigy for a 1616m+0404usb) you're going to find that your recording quality is infinitely better.

I haven't worked with many interfaces, but I'll just make a few short points on those I've used (Some were my friends, some were at my school's studio).

- Audigy 2 ZS - Decent outputs, horrible mic input. Line-in works ok. Quite a lot of hiss.
- Audigy 2 ZS Platinum - For gaming and movies, pretty ok. Has a decent line-in if I remember.
- M-Audio Delta 1010 - Good quality TRS balanced inputs. Problem being - you need preamps and/or a mixer to go along with this one, unless you're only recording from stuff like keyboards.
- M-Audio MobilePre USB - For its limited I/O it's ok. At least it has mic pres + phantom power. I didn't get to use this much really.
- E-MU 0404USB - Good budget preamps - I use it as an ADC mic preamp for my 1616M via S/PDIF
- E-MU 1616M - Good budget preamps again, huge I/O for the price, good DAC/ADCs, decent headphone amp, amazing routing flexibility. My current main interface. It has its limitations - I'd love to see an extra pair of mic pres, but for now I'm pretty content.

I'd say, go for E-MU or M-Audio... but I haven't really been looking at budget cards, so I can't say for sure what would be the best.

as big of an m-audio fan as i am, the mobile pre usb's preamp isnt as good as i hope it to be. however, its great for its low price to even provide phantom power and such.