Creative has a competitor, the C-Media Oxygen HD chip, aka CMI8788.  The Tech Report has published a huge review of the chip focusing on 2 cards, Auzentech’s X-Meridian and Sondigo’s Inferno.  Everything is covered in the review, not only the performance of positional audio in games, the CPU utilization is compared to the X-Fi as well as some serious work with Rightmark’s Audio Analyser.

“CREATIVE HAS ALL BUT OWNED the market for PC audio cards since it introduced the original Sound Blaster way back when. That dominance has only grown over the years, in part because Creative has made some very good sound cards, but also because the company has managed to swallow up some of its competitors and outmuscle others. Now, though, Creative is starting to see some real competition. C-Media’s new Oxygen HD audio chip is finding its way into numerous sound cards from relative upstarts, and enthusiasts have taken notice.”

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Audio Corner