I mention Arny since I've looked at his website and have read comments
he's made the SB cards, but welcome responses from anyone.

Arny, you've mentioned you don't think the Audigy or Live cards are
particularly quiet, and I've heard others bitch about them allegedly
being noisy. Actually, the last time I looked at your site, I saw info
on the Live but you didn't have anything on the Audigy that I could
find in your Sound Card comparison section.

Not trying to be a wise-guy, but did you test the Live with the CD
audio muted? I've found that this makes a HUGE difference in the
obvious "hiss" I hear, going strictly on a seat of the pants "naked
ear" basis. With the CD audio muted, it sure sounds mighty quiet and I
have to crank it basically all the way up to hear much of anything,
and a portion of that is surely from the receiver/amp I have the
computer sound going through. With CD audio unmuted, it becomes
hissier at somewhat lower levels. Ditto the Audigy.