Well my girlfriend surprised me with an emu 0404 yesterday, and I just got around to installing it. I've always doubted soundcards and pc audio, and I always considered my computer speakers to be trash. They're a set of older generation altec lansing satellites with a tiny sub. Well after hooking up the emu, WOW! vocals jumped out, clarity is way up, this is amazing! Of course it can't compare with real speakers but I really am shocked at the quality of the emu compared to my onboard audio card. I can't wait to run the emu to my main rig, after finding appropriate connectors, which leads me to my questions:

for those who are running your pc to your preamp across the room, what is the best way to do it without losing too much from the long cord length? What do you do for a remote when not listening at the computer? Should I bypass the preamp completely and control the volume on my computer, or lock it at 0 gain? I'm completely blown away, and if I like the results on my main rig I might even do away with the Eastsound and get a good dac!