Most PCs have an unused ISA slot or two, which is perfect for a daughter board. O. All options are covered, whether you need to connect a DAT or mini disc or digital effects unit. Having the converters in an external box, rather than on the sound card keeps them away from CPU internal noise and interference. The front panel has two XLR mic inputs, with gain control and switchable phantom power. Apparently they're for use with a different Hoontech card and refer to Master and Slave processors.
High frequencies sparkle, and there is a real sense of presence and air to acoustic sounds.
It takes a little while to learn, but is extremely flexible and useful, and in many cases removes the need for a hardware patchbay. Its LEDs aren't the most responsive around, but they're fast enough. Aux In, Wave, etc. The output of the Internal mixer can be sent to any channels of the External Mixer via the Windows Multimedia Control Panel. Although this wasn't mentioned in the documentation, it's a very useful feature.