Need Help Picking Next Sound Card (PCI-E) or maybe going to a DAC?

[LedHed]

So I went to SLI GTX 660 TI due to a really good deal I found on the 2nd 660 Ti. Well my Prelude is a PCI sound card and there is no room for it anywhere with SLI so I need to get either a new sound card or a DAC. My budget is around $250 and I am looking at the Creative ZXR, although I don't really know if this is my best option as I am not very knowledgeable on DACs.

You can see here my PSU and my 2nd 660 Ti are almost touching where the first fan is (Thank God there are two fans on it):



I am coming from an Auzentech Prelude that has served me very well for over 5 years, but Auzentech doesn't really have any PCI-E cards that I would buy right now. I am running my 5.1 sound analog into my receiver (SACD input), letting the sound card do all the processing and the receiver is basically just using the amps (multi-channel mode). Is this possible with a DAC? Is there a better sound card for the same price as the ZXR ($220)? I mainly run my Polk Audio home theater speakers for sound, but do occasionally run headphones at night. So whatever solution I go with will need to be mainly aimed at pushing speakers, not these ASUS cards that are aimed at headphones. The two main purposes for the sound card is Gaming and Multimedia (Blu-Rays/Music).

I need to get this decently soon so I can give my 2nd 660 Ti proper breathing room and get it off the PSU, so the product needs to be released or very soon to be released.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[nossy23]

I personally think the ZXR is a really good all round card if you want to do gaming and also have great audio quality for music, movies etc It would be my top choice.

[yojimbo197]

This is a decent DAC:
http://www.amazon.com/Audioengine-D1.../ref=pd_cp_e_0

The Schiit Bifrost DAC looks pretty good. And if I"m remembering right its modular and allows you to upgrade at a later date:
http://www.amazon.com/Schiit-BIFROST...-20&ascsubtag=[type|link[postId|483393503[asin|B006YWRW36[authorId|5716553178370339807

[LedHed]

Are all DACs only 2 channel? Seems they are all aimed at headphones.. Looks like I may be going going with the ZXR.

[[XC] Oj101]

I recently bought myself a Sound Blaster Zx (standard Z but with volume pod with built-in mic and in-/outputs) and all I can say is wow, it's a big improvement over my old X-Fi.

[LedHed]

yea I ended up getting the ZXR, really nothing else competes with it on a PCI-E interface.

[EniGmA1987]

Are all DACs only 2 channel? Seems they are all aimed at headphones.. Looks like I may be going going with the ZXR.

There are a few multi-channel DAC units, but they are few and far between. It really is one market that is severely lacking. Home audio/video receivers pretty much fill this role, and while they have gotten much better in their audio section in the last 2-3 years, they still are nothing close to a high end stereo DAC unit.

[LedHed]

Ok this has me confused, why will multiple onboard sound cards and the older X-Fi chip (newest revision) decode 24 bit in PowerDVD 13, but I have to use AnyDVD HD with the ZXR in order to get 24 bit sound... What gives???

Here is the setup now, muuuuch different (and the SLI bridge reaches, lol):