This is a sweet internal sound card. Suggested Retail is about $249 US. Nice to see there are sound card options besides Creative. I like Creative but competition makes everyone better.

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Jim I’m curious as to the price. It seems to be about $200 too expensive. I’m comparing with focusrite and presonus external units that provide mic pre amps, midi io and so forth for the same price.

Help me understand the benefit of using this over an external io box that seem to have so many other advantages.

Maybe I’m missing something...

I don’t have an issue with the price. These cards can be a grand, like RME. The signal to noise ratio for this card is very good, and the maximum sample rate is insane.

Still, for a decade now, the trend is to be ‘outside the box’ to reduce the possible interference from electrical and radio signals of the computer. I don’t think I would want to go back to that world.

rockstar_not,

I'm sure most people will be better served by a multi-purpose usb audio interface designed to both record and playback audio as well as perhaps offer MIDI ports. If you record or use MIDI they are the best choice. This is a viable alternative (at a premium price) for those focused primarily on audio playback capability.