From what I understand, the 8rda+ has the Soundstorm chip, giving you hardware acceleration as fast as the SB Audigy, but lacks the digital output unless you buy the accessory connector from Epox or make it yourself. Since this is part of the Soundstorm spec, Epox cannot advertise the 8rda+ as Soundstorm or even "part Soundstorm". Me, I have analog speakers (only two, cheap ones at that) so I just wanted the higher performance of the MCP2 (or what is that called?)