Help choosing high quality soundcard for audio playback (w/ headphones)

[Rodrigo Amorim Bahiense]

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for a soundcard that "just works" under FreebSD. So far I've 
considered the following cards:

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 or 192: Although they are cards built mostly for 
recording, I've read many reviews about the outstanding playback quality 
in these cards. The drawback is that many users also advice buying a 
mixer or amp for headphone listening.

Asus Xonar Essence STX: This card seems very, very good. However, I only 
found one topic about them with FreeBSD on opensound.com forum, with no 
information about its recording capability, which for me is basically 
needed for voice chat only. The only hope I have about this card is the 
annoucement made for FreeBSD OSS 4.2 Build 2004 which apparently 
includes support for Asus Xonar DS/STX.

HT Omega Claro Plus+: Many good reviews, but none related to FreeBSD. 
Couldn't tell so far if this board seems to have any support.


Thanks in advance,
--
Rodrigo