Although I am not new to high end audio, I am clueless. That is I bought a nice system years ago. Plugged it in and played; that's it. But clearly it is time to upgrade. Anyway I built a new computer and listened to some music through my Ultrasone headphones from the new board which bent my brain in a good way. I thought why can't I have this kind of sound out of my home speakers.
Now I am on a quest to get descent music out of my home speakers. I purchased a Class-D Audio amp kit, and have maggies.
I want to start streaming music from Rhapsody, Pandora, and MP3 to my system. I want a good sound card. I will not pay more than 220 or so. I have looked at the
M-Audio US41750 Audiophile 192 and
ASUS Xonar Essence ST 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Audio
Is the Xonar much better than the M-Audio? Is there better options?
The Computer I built has a Sabertooth FX mother board which I can use but I am really thinking of using my old computer for the new sound card and sound system. However, in the near future both computers will be called to duty as I want good sound in each of the rooms they are in.
