[linux-audio-dev] Soundcards...

Hi peeps. Just looking for some quick advice about a new soundcard. I'm looking at getting something like the M-Audio Audiophile 2496. This is to replace a SB Live! Value. Does this seem like a sensible (though cheap) move? I'm expecting a better card. The reason I'm thinking about changing to something not hugely dissimilar is because under ALSA, I'm rally not impressed with my SB. The volumes seem wrong - loudest seems to clip before it's off the card. I have no use for all those fancy effects that it does, since I can't make use of them in my setup anyway. Up until now, I've been using headphones mostly, with a couple of sets of cheapo speakers as monitors, with a super cheap amp. I'm about to splash out on some real nearfield monitors and a real monitoring amp, although I'll still be spending less than £350 (That's UK pounds, in case the symbol doesn't come out as it should - there's a reason I'm not sure it will, but let's not get into that). With a nicer monitoring setup, obviously I want a decent soundcard. Does the Audiophile work well with ALSA? Are there any better alternatives? Am I being silly, and can just somehow "fix" my SBLive/ALSA setup? All advice welcomed, James -- "I'd crawl over an acre of 'Visual This++' and 'Integrated Development That' to get to gcc, Emacs, and gdb. Thank you." (By Vance Petree, Virginia Power)