Best soundcard if have outboard DAC

When feeding to an external DAC, the sound card only needs to be bit perfect. The DAC does not care about brand names if the output is SPDIF 44.1khz. Redbook standard!!

So, Let me see...

I think I am wanting to go digital out from my PC because I have read and been told that the DAC onboard my Kenwood receiver would be better then any soundcard DAC because of the noise inside the PC etc. First question: Would the DAC onboard a highend receiver indeed be better then the DAC on an external chip? It is a Burr Brown DAC.

Second question: If I am going to rely upon the DAC onboard my receiver, I am relying on a digital SPDIF connection; either optical or coaxial... which is better?

Third question: Is there a difference in quality between different digital outs? Is the sound quality from all 24bit digital outs the same or is there differences? Is the difference in the software or hardware manipulation of the sound before it goes digitally out?

These questions are helping me determine if I need X-Fi, or a lesser card that has SPDIF out? I want to know what the differences are if I am not relying on the analog outs (receiver instead of PC speaker).

I would recommend skipping the soundcard--get a USB audio output device like the Waveterminal U24 that will output spdif. Other cheaper alternatives include the Edirol UA-1D or the M-Audio Sonica. If you use USB instead of coax or optical, it sounds better for longer runs. You will still need a short coax or optical to connect to your receiver (the general consensus seems to be that coax is better, but there are some situations where people claim the optical is superior--you would have to try it).

Are all digital outs (USB or otherwise) thet produce 24bit the same quality? Would something like the new Creative X-Fi give me a better quality digital out then one of the externals that you recommended, or all they all the same?

Sorry, don't know much about things at this level...

Try both connections to the outboard reciever and let your ears determine what sounds best to you! It still does not matter what you use to feed the bits to the DAC. USB or sound card will not matter in the digital realm with 44.1khz output. Most Creative cards will not output 44.1 SPDIF. The Burr Brown DAC is a excellent D/A converter. Bits is Bits no matter what you use. The DAC is where the sound quality comes into play.