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[SirMaster]

If I can clarify my point. I think the sound card may not be necessary.

I would not replace the dedicated sound card with the motherboard option, but rather a USB solution.

In effect I'd still have a "sound card" but it would be a USB DAC / headphone AMP combination. Yes, that is a more expensive solution, but it seems like it also may be a better one.

Why?

1. I bought sound cards in the day to reduce CPU strain. Clearly that is still present, but so insignificant (to me) that I do not think it is a valid concern anymore.

2. Shoddy driver can kill a system much much faster than NO drivers. Don't see any down side to NOT installing drivers for something you don't need (meh, to many negatives). You get the idea I hope.

3. A quality headphone DAC / AMP will be like a nice computer case. Ability to move from build to build. I suppose you can do that with a sound card, but I'm moving from PCI to PCIx, so it seems logical to switch now.

4. Someone correct me on this one. Less case (electrical) noise with an external / USB DAC. It would seem logical, but I don't know if it is enough to make a difference.

So I guess I'm looking for an external DAC / headphone AMP combination to replace a sound card. It seems wrong to me, but I think that is because I've always had a sound card, and still think that I will always have one. Meh.

This is what I do as well and it's pretty much true.

Though USB is probably the worst interface for real-time systems like streaming real-time audio. USB says nothing about the timing of the signals so it introduces jitter in the audio signal that affects sound quality.

You have to shell out serious bucks to get a good DAC that has a signal re-clocker to eliminate the jitter, like this:
http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac/dac1-pre

On a budget, an external DAC with S/PDIF is probably more accurate but less convenient.

 

[Liver]

This is what I do as well and it's pretty much true.

Though USB is probably the worst interface for real-time systems like streaming real-time audio. USB says nothing about the timing of the signals so it introduces jitter in the audio signal that affects sound quality.

You have to shell out serious bucks to get a good DAC that has a signal re-clocker to eliminate the jitter, like this:
http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac/dac1-pre

On a budget, an external DAC with S/PDIF is probably more accurate but less convenient.

I have been looking at the Dac1-pre and it's predecessors for some time. You are right that they are expensive and very highly regarded.

I know I don't need anything of that caliber. I'd use the optical out from the motherboard to an external solution if you say the USB option is bad (on a budget).

Edit. What is your computer / headphone solution?