Roark

I did, had browsed several such threads on these forums before creating this topic My needs were slightly different though

Alright, the separate setup does sound like the best option if there is no good card for both 7.1 and recording. Thanks for the help

What about creative X-Fi? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102014 looks like it has the inputs I would need (don't use XLR), the description is written up mainly for the 7.1 uses though and the rest is pretty ambiguous "AUDIO CREATION MODE: Get advanced audio and music creation features"

Sorry for vagueness I do a fair amount of audio recording (mostly voice and trumpet, occasionally guitar), and use a midi keyboard as well.

I just finished building a new desktop computer, and the last piece of the puzzle has yet to fall into place. My needs are two-fold: Good 7.1 Sound (I am very picky about listening to music, movies, and I'm a hardcore gamer) Remixing capabilities All of the good remixing cards I've seen (e-mu, m-audio) do not have 7.1 sound, and vice versa. My budget is up to $200, what are my options? Would like to order off newegg if possible. Thanks for the help!