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can this sound card send 5.1 gaming through the toslink. Sound blaster cards will not do it. I have klipsch GMX D-5.1 speakers that connect via a toslink.

is this good for htpc karaoke? (2 mics in) i have adapters

Garbage. Onboard sound is the way to go. 7.1 is nice that is if you have nice speakers to go with it.

#1: Yes. I've got the higher end version with the same chipset for that specific reason. It'll do 5.1 by encoding it as Dolby Digital or ... crap, I can't remember the other offhand.

If you have the card set to PCM, it'll only do 2 channels over the digital out, but it'll continue sending sound through the standard computer outputs as well. When you switch it to Dolby (or the other one) it'll discontinue the sound through the normal outputs.

Check that the formats it outputs match those that your speakers can handle, but it should work for you.

Even a 2 speaker/headphone setup can benefit from a good sound card. Read the newegg reviews and judge for yourself. HT Omega is a new-ish sound card company that makes excellent products. The striker is their entry-level card, but I assure you you'll be more happy with this $80 card than any X-Fi card.

#1, yes it will.
But you are paying for dolby digital as well as Dts yet using only one at a time. Since there is no realtime surround upmix ( the game decides which channel produces what) , both protocols are identical and no one can differentiate between the two.
I'd suggest the Monster sound DDL instead, its the exact same thing minus the DTS.

From newegg's description:

"It means you can turn your sound files like WMA, MP3, CD and other audio files into multiple channels, and you have a true-to-life audio experience."

This is false. With stereo sources, what you get is stereo duplicated across the rears and side surrounds and the center is a mix of L and R..unless of course you use dolby prologic which clearly is not used in this card

Even a 2 speaker/headphone setup can benefit from a good sound card. Read the newegg reviews and judge for yourself. HT Omega is a new-ish sound card company that makes excellent products. The striker is their entry-level card, but I assure you you'll be more happy with this $80 card than any X-Fi card.

you dont really need a sound card for speakers. you can hardly tell the difference. its the headphone part that you can tell a lot of difference.

"true-to-life audio experience."?

You mean like when you go to a band and they are not actually on stage in front of you but the drummer is in your left rear, singer is in the right rear, guitar is in front left and bass is in front right.... yeah,,, just like true-to-life...

rodeo cowboy marketers.

#9 I get that feeling with movies. "Oh, the rear right surround just kicked in..."