What to get instead of ESI Juli@? Options

[yonyz]

Hi,

I used to do some audio editing at home for fun, but It's been long since I did that.
I'm looking to replace my ESI Juli@ with a different sound card because I don't like the fact that it doesn't support EAX and has no headphone output and is limited to stereo (which I am using atm but I might switch to surround one day).
So as you can see, I'm looking for a card that's a bit more consumer oriented. I just don't like the drivers of this card, they are really bad.

So what other card has a comparable DAC (I don't record so don't care about the ADC), maybe with surround outputs (not a must) or EAX support?

External cards are welcome.
How do the Creative X-Fi cards compare?
I want a "flat response" card, not sound that "favors" movies or music or games.

Thanks.