Soundcard for 5.1
 

Having set my new system up based on a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4 Mobo, I think I may have a limitation. It incorporates the following which sounds mighty impressive:-
Intel® High Definition Audio
Intel® High Definition Audio enables 8 channel premium digital sound in the PC for an immersive surround sound experience. In addition, Intel HD Audio delivers multiple audio channels in your PC so you can listen to two different streams simultaneously in two separate rooms

OK...my problem is, when i go to setup my preferences within Vegas to 5.1 and look to specify which channels I use for front/rear/cent and sub, I have no options other thean the standard Microsoft ones.

Am I expecting too much out of onoard sound, and, if so, what the current weapon of choice that you guys would recommend?

no thats about it..
id recomend either a soundblaster pci card (theyve improved greatly since the audigy and in 5 years, ive never had an issue (even wiht the first ever relase SBLive and vegas 4...

there are many other cards out there, but the SBLive works and ive never had any driver or compatibility issues.

thers also teh fact that its native 48khz which is great and less cpu intensive as DV and HDV are native 48khz, in turn not requiring any stream conversion on the fly. This 1 or 2% saving (maybe less) can be put to better use with rendering
ALso the SBlive has a built in hardware sampler (emu HW, using soundfont banks etc), as well as realtime fx which can be tapped into with midi.

Like i said there are many, however in any case, make sure that whatever you choose can easily put out 48khz wihtout an issue, as well as one of the most ever important factors and that is that its a full duplex card (ie, record and playback at the same time) Reason i say this is that if u ever need to do live recordings (i take a lappuy to stage shows and tap into the mixer and record straight into vegas timeline as needed this sets my sync for my footage later on.. i can monitor on the lappy and tweak as needed and adjust levels.. if it wasnt full duplex, you wouldnt be able to hear what your recording
Another thing about full duplex, is when u might want to record a dvd's audio or a cd's audio remotely through soundforge. Such as sound effects from cartoons or snippets from movies.

im sure therell be other opinions out there, but the SBLive works for me and it works a treat for my games too...

I had a SB Live on my old system (closet musician as well) and your right it never gave me any grief. Plus you got the added bonus of an extra firewire connection.

Only downside was spaghetti junction around the back .

What I was hopeful for with the mobo I got was the SPDIF in and out which would have allowed me to use fewer cables.

With the fewer cables in mind in mind, anybody using the M-Audio 24/96?

most SBLive systems have a digital output... actually i believe they all do...

5.1 audio is usually encoded to DTS or AC3 and streamed over a single, digital SPDIF link (how's that for a mouthful?) If you want to master in surround, you need a card with individual channel outputs, and connect each pair (so that's three cables) to the receiver.