ALC1200 vs SB Live! ?

This is a hard one; I cannot find any info. It's obvious an X-fi would most likely be better than the Realtek ALC1200, but what about an SB Live! ? Reading various forums, I cannot find anyone that actually knows what they're talking about. Most people jump to the conclusion "onboard sound sucks, any sound blaster card is clearly better!" which is wrong, as I know from personal experience that some of the Realtek onboard sound chips are comparable or better than many of Creative's cards, excluding the top end ones. I've personally tested and compared them.

It's possible this chip is close to X-fi in sound quality except it doesn't have features like crystallizer etc. Is there anyone that could list the specs and/or a review or comparison for this? Kind of annoying trying to find info when almost everyone who answers on other forums is clueless about how sound works and never compared sound devices before, so most people assume anything that says "Creative Sound Blaster" is automatically 'better'.

Reason I'm trying to figure this out is because I'm trying to upgrade and wondering which sound card to use, best case maybe I don't have to spend an extra $90 on the X-fi, if the Realtek onboard chip (P5Q Pro board) sounds close to as good. Not expecting an answer but thought I'd ask here in case I get lucky.

ok, from searching various forums it seems like the ALC883 owns SB Live, which would mean the ALC1200 should badly own the SB Live. Don't know how it compares to the X-fi though.