Hey guys,

I'm in the process of rebuilding a computer for a new workstation that will double as a media center. It will be used for listening to music, watching tv, movies, playing games, as well as recording music (specifically guitar).

The computer as it stands right now does not have any sort of soundcard except for the onboard (Gigabyte P35-DS3R motherboard: ALC889A Audio controller) and I play my music using WASAPI. I'm looking for a sound card that has good recording capabilities but also great output sound quality. I'm going to be running this computer to a Pioneer SX-6 reciever and the reciever to a pair of Polk Audio RTi6 speakers.

I was looking at the M-Audio Delta 66 as its touted as a reasonably priced card for recording and playback. I can pick one of these up for 130$. I was also looking at the Asus Xonar Essence STX but it is expensive. Does Asus have a model that has the same soundquality but without the headphone amp? I'd like to keep the card in the sub-200$ range.

Thanks for any advice.

You can try ESI Juli@ or Phonak firewire..but Juli@ is great choice for recording and playback.

Thanks for the recommendation. I will look into it.

In terms of percievable audio quality, will I hear a difference between onboard and a soundcard like Juli@ or Xonar Essence STX?

Generally, not a whole heck of a lot.

Your specific case is up to you to evaluate. Do you hear any nasty sounds, noises or distortion? If nothing stands out, then you're probably doing just fine.

Remember that on-board sound got a bad rep back in the day when they meant 50 dB dynamic range and frequency response that was squirrelry above 5 KHz. Today, some on-board sound is about as good as really pretty good audio interfaces like the Delta 44 or 66.

BTW, I wouldn't recommend the Delta 44 or 66. If all you need is 2-channel, then the Audiophile 2496 is a better choice, and if you want a lot of channels, then the Delta 1010LT is the better choice. They all take the same drivers are are based on the same family of converters and core logic.

In terms of output sound quality, how much better would a Asus Xonar Essence STX be compared to a E-MU 0202 USB through stereo speakers?

None.

The most important differences I see is that the Asus Xonar Essence STX is better-suited for a home audio environment (RCA jacks) while the EMU is better suited for an audio production environment (XLR and TRS jacks).

I use the ESI Juli@ in my Media Center PC (HTPC) and can highly recommend it.

I've first tested my RME DIGI 96/8 Pad (took it from my main PC) that I cannot recommend due to incomplete drivers for a HTPC (DirectX, WDM...)
Then I've tested a M-AUDIO - Audiophile 192, where I only ran into problems - the drivers are complete, but I always ran into sound problems.
I used a AMD Atlon back then and in the end the M-Audio support told me that the card was incompatible with the AMD board...

Then I purchased the ESI Juli@ and it worked and still works perfectly for my HTPC (using MediaPortal Software)