I have used both the 2ZS and now the XFI music.
I used the 'hack' opendll file to give better EAX sounds on BF2 and while you could tell a difference (kubra tunnel is best for eax effects) it was very slight.
Now with the XFI the sound is sooo much better. The EAX effects are much more pronounced and I have heard things that I never new were there before (such as a dog barking on one of the city maps and a bell ringing (go on an empty server and just have a walk around...you will hear things you didn't know where there! As for a difference in fps tbh I havn't really noticed an improvement as I am already @100fps limit anyway (7800GTX512mb).
I too wanted a breakout box but wasn't willing to pay the extra £50 or so as it would only be for show anyway (not a music buff). If your gonna use it then I say get it.
I used the 'hack' opendll file to give better EAX sounds on BF2 and while you could tell a difference (kubra tunnel is best for eax effects) it was very slight.
Now with the XFI the sound is sooo much better. The EAX effects are much more pronounced and I have heard things that I never new were there before (such as a dog barking on one of the city maps and a bell ringing (go on an empty server and just have a walk around...you will hear things you didn't know where there! As for a difference in fps tbh I havn't really noticed an improvement as I am already @100fps limit anyway (7800GTX512mb).
I too wanted a breakout box but wasn't willing to pay the extra £50 or so as it would only be for show anyway (not a music buff). If your gonna use it then I say get it.