It's funny, I don't get many competitive sound card questions anymore. It's getting harder to find competition in retail- with the exception of Fry's Electronics.
The Audigy 2 is similar in audio quality to the card you mentioned. The processing power is the key here. However, the latest ZS cards can decode Dolby Dig EX and DTS ES in hardware.
As for gaming, the Audigy cards are the only ones to process EAX Advanced HD. Other cards handle an older version of EAX, but only in software.

Hope this helps facilitate discussion!

D