Fortissimo II or Live Platinum?

[spacein_vader]

I currently have a Gamesurround Fortissimo II card, which I bought purely because at the time as it was the cheapest I could find with optical digital input and output which I use for recording to and from my minidisc player. I have never had any problems with it but I have found a site selling a soundblaster live platinum for £60. As I use my PC for playing music CDs, mp3s and DVDs as well as games, the livedrive and remote would come in handy. What I would like to know is, will the sound quality be better/worse than my Fortissimo II, and does the livedrive have optical in/out?

My speakers are a pair of Videologic (PUREdigital) Scirocco Spirits, which have served me well, I do not wish to replace them so does anybody know of a PC speaker manufacturer that will sell sub-woofers seprately?
Thanx in advance for helping a (posting at least) noob!

Where theres inovation, theres a lawsuit

 

[r2k]

I'd say don't bother with the Live!. Fortssimo II is on par if not better sounding than the Live! and it's IMHO just not worth it to buy a Live! any more (it being a fairly old card and having notorious problems with some system configurations especially with VIA mainboards). If it was an Audigy Platinum (at the same price) then I think it would be a good deal with all the gizmos of the drive.

 

[umheint0]

Stay with your current setup.

Concerning a subwoofer, if your budget is inadequate, you won't be able to get one. If you're looking around $100 US, you might be able to find a small one, but they generally are weak and disappear behind your regular speakers. If you want bass, get a full 2.1 or 4.1 solution, as the subwoofers included with them are generally "sufficient" for most peoples needs (not mine, though).

XP 2500+ Barton
A7N8X Dlx
2x512MB Corsair PC3200
MSI GF3 Ti500 w/64MB DDR
16x DVD-ROM
2x80GB 7200RPM Maxtor
Onboard audio

My computer is bigger than your computer....

 

[spacein_vader]

After seeing peoples distain for creative solutions in general i'm sticking with my current card. I have however found a subwoofer. A klipsch promedia SWS. They are $150 or about £95 here in the UK. Any ideas as to the quality? I know klipsch have the reputation for quality but haven't heard anything, positive or negative, about this solution

Where theres inovation, theres a lawsuit