Does it have 5.1 support? Even if you don't have a surround system its always good to plan ahead. Also, why did you decide to go with the external? I've got an Audigy 2 ZS that I absolutely LOVE! It has the front I/O drive so I don't have to pull out my computer every time I want to hook up any MIDI, optical, coaxial, earphone, or mic devices. I forget how much I paid...I don't think it was very cheap though. Might be something to look into.Also, thanks for the idea mark. I've been meaning to clean up some recordings for a while...I'll check wavelab out.