Recommended sound card for Z840. either internal or external

[hput3]

I want a quality sound card for my z840... Maybe a few people here have some experience along that line.

I don't really care if its internal or external.  I've heard that recent usb3 (3.2 I think) is plenty fast for just about anything.

I guess a sound card would have some RAM of its own.. But my host has 500 GB or ram so shouldn't be a problem.

Oh, and one other thing.  I think I should know all about the hardware and soft ware available on the Z840 and wondered what Is a good choice of tool to dig all that kind of information up for me?

[DGroves]

A SOUND DEVICE TO DO WHAT? gaming home theater professional audio editing? and connected to what speakers balanced or unbalanced audio connections does the audio device have to have both preamp and main power output or just a preamp out for use with a seperate audio amp

unless you get quite a bit more specific nobody will be able to provide a useful reply

last, nowadays usb based audio devices usually have better specs and more features

[LexZ640]

I use a Behringer UMC 404HD audio interface via USB 2.0 paired with Yamaha HS8 studio monitors. This is a balanced output system and the sound quality is excellent. I use for 18 hours daily for my home music studio, playing Fortnite and Crysis, watching TV and have used this setup since 2021 and the UMC 404HD has  been powered on 24/7 since then.

[DGroves]

your not going to get any consumer grade sound card (such as the creative live series) that matches or exceeds your current hardware you would need to look for either prosumer or studio grade sound cards and thes being nich and geared to specific uses are expensive and have limitations compared to general purpose sound cards

and again as i said most current audio based research nowadays is usb based like this creative "X5" high end consumer audio device

https://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-x5

or the AE Series

https://us.creative.com/aeseries/

for a pci-e based card the prosumer "Z" series is available

https://asean.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-zxr?gQT=1