USB output to a DAC is probably the best upgrade, but it can be expensive for the DAC. The Asus Xonar Essence ST and STX audio cards are a very good solution that is cheaper. They can be had for less than $100 on ebay. If you have an older PCI slot, I have read that the older ST sounds a bit better because of the clock timing on PCI. The new PCI-E interface appears to have a bit more jitter/timing problems on audio clock signals.
That EVGA Nu Audio card looks interesting as well. Audio Note components and influence. I suspect the Asus card would be more neutral and transparent with the Nichicon FG caps. The Audio Note stuff can be colored (they have a unique sound and you either like it or don't like it).
And Firefox recommended as browser for best audio playback.
That EVGA Nu Audio card looks interesting as well. Audio Note components and influence. I suspect the Asus card would be more neutral and transparent with the Nichicon FG caps. The Audio Note stuff can be colored (they have a unique sound and you either like it or don't like it).
And Firefox recommended as browser for best audio playback.