M-Audio Audiophile Sound Card

What I like most about this card is it's ease of use. There are no complicated configurational details to take care of - you are prompted to set defaults initially and that's it - you just return to adjust them when necessary. It took five minutes to remove the shell of my pc case, insert the PCI card and then replace - no having to bend the shell to accomodate the card or other oversights. The plug and play does the rest. Whether you're an exclusively midi music creator or exclusively audio, RCA-ing or SPDIF-ing a live session from your desk, this card is the most reliable, well thought out and smartly engineered PCI interface you're going to get without dipping into the holiday fund.

Full duplex, digital in and out, industry sampling rates and tons more. Recognised and seemlessly integrated by every music application I've tried - and plenty that I haven't. A professional sounding, quality card at an entry level price - whether you're looking for a card to stream out your Protools sessions or just wanting to hear your games crash and crackle through your external amp, this is the one for you. I really can't recommend it enough - an absolute steal at the price and solid gold reliability too. I could give you loads of specs for this card, but you don't want the talk - you want the walk, and this card's got more walk than Dita Von Teese (but sadly, a less attractive underside.)

I would say that the only drawback is, you will end up kicking yourself for buying that high end, three figure card last year - the one that sounded cool in theory, but required a sound engineer just to determine how to operate it without causing 30 separate conflicts.

Regardless of your specialisation, this card will be a valued addition to your set-up. Overall, (and I've kept it short and sweet) I'd have to say that this card is a 5 out of 5. There are many more expensive cards that offer nowhere near such reliability and specs. It's not the Holy Grail, but it sounds damn close when you're streaming out that low-end Cubase curve to your external monitors. Best buy for a long time ... make it yours too.