"ap" wrote in message
om
"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
... .

That's also the approximate order of technical quality from high to
lower.

Based on what?

The categories shows.

Drivers, features, build quality....

Obviously, all the drivers worked pretty well, and none of the cards fell
apart in typical use.

Would you say there is a difference in sound quality?

On a list that covers the range shown at

http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm

???

#@ll yes, there's a difference in sound quality between the card at the top
of the list, and the one at the bottom. A huge one.

If so, is that based on subjective evaluation or specs?

Both. At the top of the list, the cards can only be reliably differentiated
by technical performance. At the bottom of the list, if you can't hear the
differences, you don't belong in the audio business. Seriously. The game
starts shifting above the approximate upper 1/3 of the list.

Detailed listening test studies of several of the cards are provided at

http://www.pcabx.com/product/soundcard/index.htm , and linked out of the
relevant technical test reports.