Quote Originally Posted by Feanor
[/INDENT]Reputedly, external USB-connected sound cards such as I use, reduce the effect of EMI/RFI found inside the computer.
Wouldn't surprise me.

There's a huge amount of variation in the quality of sound cards, but overall I still find I prefer the sound of my CDP (as humble as it may be) running through my amp than any computer I've compared to it. The sound card in my shuttle is not stellar (integrated but it's enough for my needs), and to be honest the mac mini I picked up from a friend sounds more energetic and dynamic.

Of course I could always put a real sound card in the shuttle or get one of those external sound "cards" and it'd likely be better than both. I can't say I care, I don't do critical listening through my computers.