I realize that questions similar to this get posted all the time, but I didn't see this question in particular:

I need a sound card. The only thing that this sound card will be asked to do is feed (via the line-out) .MP3s and .WAVs to a Denon receiver. No gaming, no surround sound, no midi, no recording, et cetera.

So I guess what I need is a high-quality, low-feature sound card. I don't mind paying for quality, but I hate paying for features that I do not need.

Is there such a card?

Hey, if you want a soundcard for music playback, I'd go with an M-Audio soundcard. I have the Revolution 7.1, and compared to my old Santa Cruz (which i loved), this thing is beautiful. It has a Digital Coax output that you can connect to your receiver as well. Check out the reviews for it..but for the most part it's an audiophile's soundcard. It uses the Envy24 series chip ..and there are some other sound cards that use similar Envy series chips. But, thus far M-Audio's drivers have been rock solid and the options available in the control panel seem to be tuned more towards listening to music/movies rather than games. I'm a little biased..but I wanted this card for months and when I finally bought it, I wasn't disappointed

And last I saw ...it was about $90 at NewEgg.com. Hope that helps.

Another Envy24 based card, the Chaintech AV-710 is quite excellent. I've had it for about two weeks now and am very pleased with it. Plus, it's just 24 dollars at newegg. For that price, you really can't go wrong.

As you don't want multichannel go for the Transit rather than the Revo - it's a nice card. If you don't need the convenience of USB go for the Chaintech or E-MU 0404.

or something like a terratec ewx perhaps

My vote goes to the Chaintech av710

E-MU 0404.

• User impression link 1
• User impression link 2
• User impression link 3

Price: US$99.

I/O Configuration:

• Two 1/4" Analog Inputs and Outputs
• Optical 24-bit/96kHz S/PDIF In/Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
• Coaxial 24-bit/96kHz S/PDIF In/Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
• MIDI In/Out

[Edited] 3 links, pricing and I/O config added.

I second that for the EWX 24/96

Tos digital in and out
Rca in and out
No resampling

Voting for Chaintech AV-710. Definitely worth the money and just perfect for your usage (no surround or gaming).

Another vote for the Chaintech AV710.

If you are only using it for stereo, get the newest VIA ENVY24HT drivers from VIAHardware.com. Install only these drivers (not the ones on the Chaintech CD). Double click on the "headphones" icon in the system tray and click the box for "High Rate Mode". Then plug your analog plug into jack #7 (the one next to the optical out). Enjoy the 24/96 (or whatever below that your source material is) goodness on the very competent high rate DAC.

As was said above - you can't go wrong at this price.