So here's a question: how much sound card do you need? Hubby's been using my antiquated Audigy because his X-Fi had a hardware issue with his sysboard, and the mic input died. Not surprising, as he bought me that Audigy roughly seven years ago so I could hear the wisps in Commonlands in stereo (hah, EQ!).
We can get a "perfectly okay" Audigy for $30. We can get an X-Fi that claims to have all the hardware issues worked out for $90. But how much sound card do you really need if you're not doing professional sound recording and mixing?