Creative Labs latest addition to their Sound Blaster family is based on the EMU 10K DSP to deliver a staggering 1000mips. The Sound Blaster Live! delivers the best audio quality in the market, and is ideal for home users and professionals. This card also supports Creative's Environmental Audio API and Aureal's A3D version 1.0, with a price tag of $170. This may seem a little high for some users, but this is because the retail package comes with a daughtercard and additional software. So if you're uncomfortable with the price, you can always 
opt for the Sound Blaster Live! Value Edition at $79. 

Based on Aureal's Vortex 2 chipset, the Diamond Monster Sound MX300 is fully compatible with A3D version 2.0, giving you the best 3D sound experience possible in gameplay. At the moment, this is the best soundcard for a gamer who can afford the $99 price tag. The Monster Sound MX300 also supports Creative Labs’ Environmental Audio and with an upcoming daughtercard, this board will support full Dolby Digital sound. 

Diamond Multimedia's innovative and elegant portable MP3 player is undoubtedly the next step in audio technology. Ridiculously simple to control, the Rio provides up to 30 minutes of skip-free music with MP3s encoded at 128kbps, with optional flash memory to increase playing time. At $200, the Rio's only drawback is it's price.