I'm trying to get a sound card that will plug into a really new Mini-ITX board. That leaves me with PCIe or USB, and PCIe cards seem to be expensive, crappy, and they required expensive riser and extension cards for Mini-ITX boards. I have an old Sound Blaster Live 5.1 that sounds great, but new Mini-ITX boards don't have any PCI slots.
Here are some options I've found, and why they won't work:
- Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro II: It's only stereo, not 5.1
- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 SB1090: People on Newegg says it doesn't work in Linux
- Aureon 5.1 USB MKII: Discontinued, and only available in Europe
- Various PCIe cards at Newegg: The first two Creative ones have crap reviews, and the rest are really expensive.