Hey everyone. Per threads here and here I'm going to start building my first new rig in 6 years, and the former of those threads convinced me to splurge for a soundcard. Now I haven't had a PC with a soundcard in it for at least a decade; I've always just gone with the onboard and not thought about it. But I have definitely gotten the feeling that my new Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speakers aren't doing all they could be doing for me, so I'm ready to commit to an add-in setup. However, I'm starting my knowledge base from basically scratch, so any advice anyone has to offer me is much appreciated. Note, since some in those threads implied this could impact it: I want a small PC, if not strictly SFF then still less than half the size of a standard box.
If you are going ITX you may need an external one. If you get a M-ATX board something like the Xonar DG or DX depending on your budget may be a good choice.
Anyone know anything about the new Creative Z series? They're getting high reviews on Newegg, for all that's worth.
^ new one from creative... got 3 types, ZxR, Zx and Z model http://asia.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=872&product=21383