Has anyone else actually had these two cards, to compare their sound quality?

from everywhere i read, people seem to think the audigy2zs has superior output quality then that of the CMI chipset the montego uses.

Im not hearing it. i picked up an audigy2zs at a good price, but im not impressed with the output. there seems to be (by what my ears can hear) one main difference in the way these two cards process audio. the audigy has heavy compression, while the montego is a much more pure sound.

the audigy seems to compress the music so much that it seems to sound better at first, because various levels of the music are all brought up to equal hieghts (thinking you can hear 'more'). problem is, this cuts up the very low-end bass and very high-end treble. the montego clearly has better high-end from what i can tell. i dont have good enough subs to decide on what has better low-end, yet i can tell that the audigy gives louder bass to my book-shelf speakers. usually that means the audio has been compressed, as my speakers can only reproduce to certain levels accurately.

now im not saying the audigy sounds bad, but its for a different application. with pc speakers, or a pc enviroment in general, the audigy's sound is ideal. the smaller speakers generally used will sound better on the audigy. also, theres no doubt the audigy is more compatible and faster in games.


however, once you get into higher-end audio gear, the audigy seems to struggle in reproducing an accurate signal. i simply cannot equlaize the audigy to give me as clear-toned high's as the montego would do at normal levels. has anyone else noticed this or do i just have to change a default setting? from what ive learned, you really cant compare the two cards- they really are for different applications.