CPU's and graphics cards are always prime candidates for discussion when building an enthusiast system. Rarely does anyone give soundcards a thought, even though aural pleasure should be as much a requirement as the ultimate eye candy.

In the last few years things have been pretty stale with Creative having a clear lead due to their Soundblaster Live! and Audigy cards. It was only recently that things got interesting again, with Creative’s new X-Fi line bringing new cards to the table, as well as several other companies’ proprietary solutions. Today we’ll be looking at Auzen’s take on an X-Fi soundcard and a 7.1 channel soundcard from ASUS which places special emphasis on Dolby and DTS support.