"The consumer soundcard market long has long been dominated by Creative and their SoundBlaster line of soundcards. Previously, other companies have tried their hand in this competitive market, but none have survived. ESS and Crystal no longer produce soundcard chipsets, Aureal was acquired by Creative, soundcards have vanished from Philips' website. In a market held by Creative on side, and low-cost integrated solutions by Realtek, C-Media and Analog Devices on the other, we'll see if M-Audio has what it takes with their first foray into the consumer soundcard arena with the Revolution 7.1 and the Sonica Theater USB"
Source :
myWorld Hardware