[SOC] Need suggestions on a Sound Card

[Tom McCulloch]

Hi all,
  I'm looking for a sound card for my PC (Windows XP, at least for now). 
I'll be using it for various ham applications, psk31, etc.  and maybe SDR 
someday, who knows.

I just re-read the May 2007 QST product review on sound cards and they said 
that 16 bit cards are OK but that 24 bit jobbies are probably better for 
more advanced applications.

That article is over a year old now and was wondering if anyone has any 
suggestions as to which card I should consider getting (hopefully it will 
last a long time and not become too obsolete too soon).  All things 
considered I think I would like a free standing unit (i.e. not one where I 
have to crawl behind the compouter everytime I want to plug a cable into a 
jack indentified by a picture of audio waves coming out of someones mouth , 
which never make any sense to me).  But that isn't a deal breaker, if the 
card has to go into a PCI slot, so be it.

I appreciate your input and look forward to hearing (no pun) everyones 
input.

Thanks in advance,
Tom
WB2QDG
SOC #665