I was allowed to test a Xonar ASUS D2X. Exactly the same.
Apparently Dolby has done its homework and it is unbreakable.

See also: http://www.ltspiceusers.ch/showthread...
It can do no less than the expensive ones!

I think for real 5.1 recordings you need much more complex equipment, because 5 (or 6) channels have to be processed simultaneously. Output is not at all comparable to recording.