Soundcard - PCIE

[majax]

I'm looking for a PCIE sound card (not many options from what I've seen). I can't decide between creative labs and Asus Xonar sound cards. The sound card MUST be PCIE, as my motherboard doesn't have any PCI slots. Any advice would be appreciated. Here's the items I already bought:

HARDWARE

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card 02G-P4-2678-KR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD1002FAEX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

SSD Hard Drive: Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-148-442

Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

Optical Drive: Lite-On LightScribe 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive IHAS424-98 - Retail (Black)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106335

Monitor: Dell UltraSharp U2412M Black IPS Panel 24" 8ms Pivot, Swivel & Height Adjustable LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 2,000,000:1 (1000:1) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260047

Speaker: DELL UltraSharp and Professional Series 468-7412 10 W 2.0 AX510 Flat Panel Stereo SoundBar http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836260002&Tpk=Dell AX510

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl w/ USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Silent PC Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352020
Sound Card: ?

Power Supply: ?

Head Phones: Sennheiser HD 558 Headphones
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826106515

SOFTWARE

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium
Productivity Suite: Office 2010 Home & Student Edition

 

[NiHaoMike]

Asus is better than Creative.

 

[petteyg359]

Rather than dealing with the extremely limited selection of sound cards available (seems every quality brand has disappeared, and now there's a choice of cheap trash or Xonar) and the unavoidable quality limitations in the requisite form factor, you might consider spending a bit more for a nice dedicated receiver (that you can use for your TV, DVD, whatever, in addition to the computer) and just hook it up to the optical output of the motherboard's built-in sound.

 

[NiHaoMike]

That's the way to go for speakers, but he wants to use it with headphones. (The headphone outputs on most receivers are an afterthought and are about on par with a cheapish sound card. Why would they spend extra on a feature that is rarely used?)

Fry's has a $20 DAC that's pretty good, but lack of built in volume control is a big downside for directly driving headphones. Add a simple DIY headphone amp and you're good to go, however.