What is the best 7.1 sound card in which uses an digital optical port?

Question

PCIe > PCI

I need a digital OPTICAL PORT on it!!

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Answer 1

Using digital optical output, you'll only get stereo from your PC, unless the card happens to have a Dolby Digital encoder, in which case you could output up to 5.1 audio, but in a lossy format. Dolby Digital EX supports up to 7.1, but it is not technically considered 7.1. There are other extensions also, you can read about them here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Digit...

Sadly digital outputs kinda suck. You're better off going with analog outputs (bizarre as it sounds), because then you can get true 7.1 audio.

If you truly want the best sound quality then an external sound card with an excellent DAC is in order. However, if you aren't willing to pay hundreds of pounds (or dollars) for a sound card, then internal is your only option.

If you use Windows Vista, then there's no point in getting a fully featured card since all audio processing is done in software. In Vista, the soundcard's only use is as a DAC and for input/output.