X-Fi FATAL1TY Dead, Options?

[RemixPinoY]

Hi all!

BACKGROUND

So my trusty though somewhat headache inducing through the years (especially as it has aged, probably bad caps and increasingly faulty onboard memory) Creative X-Fi FataI1ty has finally become unbearable after a decade of use. It created artifacting on the right channels with playback and would cause memory leaks when using web browsers oddly and BSOD's.

Current SETUP: 3,1 Stereo. (Movies, TV, and Gaming)

Motherboard: MSI Z68A-GD65 (G3)
DENON receiver AVR-1912
Sonance Symphony LCR Mid Channel
Boston HD8's
Boston SW10 Sub

Dilemma

So I've reverted back to onboard realtek audio which is okay but my issue is the signal to noise ratio! It's WAY too quiet and I'm forced to crank the receiver gains up to the point that I can hear static feedback when nothing is played and even then it's not as room filling loud as it used to be. Looking for a solution that will work in increasing the SNR to much higher levels while also eliminating static feedback.

SO should I be looking at a replacement sound card? A DAC? I'm not quite sure as to what I should be looking at. I know Creative has new cards out although briefly reading they do not completely outdo the prior Zx series? Not sure about Asus or the others that have come about, it's been ten years since I last looked at audio and I want to make sure I'm not missing out on a possible solution.

Thanks!


TLDR

Need to increase SNR (signal to noise ratio)
Onboard audio sucks need something to make receiver gain not so high with static playback
Solution needed to replace Creative X-fi Fatal1ty

 

[IdiotInCharge]

Your limitation here is that you're trying to do 3.1 output. The old digital PCM options will happily do 2.0 output (from which your receiver may generate 2.1), and your motherboard should have optical digital and digital coaxial ports for this purpose. However, this is where I'd start; your receiver could potentially infer your center channel audio, and this will be a purely digital and thus noiseless solution.

To replicate your former solution, you do need a soundcard, internal like the new Z line or external, so that you can transmit all four discrete channels in analog form. Pretty much anything Creative should do at that point.