I'm looking for an audiophile sound card that i can use the jack output to hook it up to an external dac/amp,that then sends the sound to my earpieces.

I want the sound to be decoded as perfectly as possible before it leaves the card and heads to the dac/amp.

So what do you got?

I run an X-fi from my notebook to an external receiver (Denon 2808). I use an optical (digital) out though, so the sound card isn't doing any of the actual work at all. Honestly, if you run a digital out from the sound card, sound card quality is not tremendously important, as the receiver/amp can then do the decoding.

Feeling rich? Knock yourself out.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102015

That one would be a good one alright, except they are known to not play nice sometimes with Nvidia motherboards. If you have an Intel board, it would be a good choice (given sufficient budget)

Is there really not another sound card more obscure possibly that does better?I dont have naything with creative but just because it has most of the market share as far as pci sound cards go does that mean it is also the best?

I will place the sound card on a 780g gigabyte mobo if that info is of any use.

If creative is the way to go which is the latest and the greates?

I can only see that the elite xfi pro is the most expensive but as far as i know it was produced back in 2005,am i right?

What about x-fi platinum and titanium fatality -blah blah here goes more name- models?(Sorry but couldn't they make the names more comprehensive and meaningful?)

Try an asus xonar, they had excellant reviews. Don't knw if it suites your purpose tho

I want to have the best sound leaving my card and into an rsa predator dac/amp i plan to get.

Asus got good reviews but its their first sound card and i dont know if their experience cuts it.Creative has been out for years on the other hand.

if you're looking for a true audiophile card, take a look at m-audio's products. m-audio makes recording studio-grade hardware.

It may be asus' first, but you can expect even better from the future, just look at how the diversified and improved the Eee line

Well maybe they will improve it in the future,but what about now?

Also what do you mean about the eee?

well, if gaming ain't your thing there is absolutely no need to get a creative card as that is their selling point.

if you still want the power they have for gaming auzentech have their x-fi based cards but the electronics have a reputation for being better.

you had better list your uses as if only music, why no just go the cd player to amp route?

It's not just music,it's the audio coming out of the PC.May that be audio files,audio from video files or even gaming.Although this PC is not intended for gaming.But as far as audio and video files go,i want to get what's best.

Auzentech and Sonar are matching the Xfi's?

How can i be aware of what more they have to offer and what they dont?It's hard to decide when people say,go definitely for the xfi and then others come and say that Xonar And Auzen are better.

There's no level for comprehension as i dont know what's better an what isnt between its card?

But as I said,so far i may not have plans for 5.1 or 7.1 speakers although someday i will,but for now i want to hook up an amp and then feed my earpieces.

Auzentech and Asus look good - I haven't tried them, but they definitely seem like they could be pretty nice.

I really like the Auzentech soundcards for what you're looking for... While most audio coming from your PC will not be of "audiophile" quality, I've found it just fine for parties, home media server, and regular listening.

HT Omega Claro cards are very good. But if you really want the best try using m-audio, they're expensive but worth it imo.