A couple of sound card questions
 

1) What is the significance of a sound card not having "digital input"?

I'm in the shop for a new computer, and I guess I consider myself to be an audiophile of some sort. I've read many positive reviews for M-Audio's Revolution 7.1 sound card, and according to the majority of the reviews I've read, its got the upper hand over the Audigy 2 ZS, and even Platinum in some respects.
However, as a way to cut down the price of the sound card, I guess, the Revolution doesn't have "internal, auxiliary sound connectors", has coaxial SPDIF, and no digital input.

EDIT: Pardon me. Internal digital input is what lets you hook your CD-ROM straight to the sound card for playing CDs. Most sound cards have it; this one doesn't.

What makes the Audigy Platinum shine (and why I bought it) is its connectivity. The sound card you're looking at has a digital out, a mic in, a 1/8" line in, and speaker outs. The Audigy 2 ZS Platinum has (on the card) all of the above plus a Firewire port and an additional front panel that includes: a 1/4" headphone out, a 1/4" line/mic in, optical AND coax SPDIF I/O, MIDI I/O, digital I/O, another Firewire port, another digital out, a 15-pin joystick port, and a remote control receiver - the Platinum Pro adds a stereo RCA line in.

I'm not sure about the sound quality difference between the audigy and the other brands. I have a first-generation audigy and it sounds fantastic to me; at this point I think the differences are starting to be nominal. I say buy the cheapest competing sound card and spend the extra money on some speakers that will let the sound card do its job right.

the internal digital output doesnt really serve much purpose these days as with xp digital audio can be transfered through the ide cable.

I would probaly go for the m-audio myelf.

SB Pro 4 LIFE >: