beginnerbuild,
At the time I changed from 2D to 3D CAD and bought a Dell Precision T5400, I also realized that I was listening to music in the office for 14-16 hours per day and barely listening to my main sound system, a very analog vinyl LP and vacuum tube system.
I have always had a good quality (McIntosh / Audio Research / Vandersteen) dedicated sound system in the office, but the results were lost as the speaker placement was so poor- behind me or well off to the sides. So, as I had had very good luck over years with the M-Audio 2496 "Audiophile" MIDI / sound card, $90 then, now about $60, (PCI, not PCIe), I put one (my fourth) in the T5400 and connected that to a Logitech Z2300 system >
http/www.amazon.com/Logitech-Z-2300-THX-Certified-Speaker-Subwoofer/dp/B0002SQ2P2
The Logitech Z2300 is one of their series of 2.1 computer sound systems > two small satellite speakers on wither side of the monitor, a subwoofer under the desk that contains a 135W amplifier, and importantly, a wired remote control that has on/off, subwoofer proportion control, and a headphone jack that mutes the external speaker when the headphones are plugged in. I bought Sennheisser HD 280 Pro headphones (about $100).
With this system, I use either Windows Media Player to play CD's, or stream radio and the results are excellent. With the remote, I can quickly mute when the phone rings, and the Dell SK-8135 keyboard has a remote control that runs Media Player, including transport and volume controls.
My suggestion is to consider the excellent M-Audio 2496 PCI soundcard >
http/www.fullcompass.com/product/267454.html?utm_source=googleps&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=googleps&gclid=CPD1vq-Bh7gCFcWZ4AodRAcA8Q
> and one of the Logitech 2.1 systems with wired remote>
http/www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_8_12/188-4925730-0480667?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=logitech%202.1%20computer%20speakers&sprefix=logitech+2.1%2Celectronics%2C220
> which have a quite a large price range. You mentioned the Z623 used for $70 and that seems like a good idea. The Logitech Products I've used seem at first to be of moderate quality, but they always work and last longer than I imagine they will. I've used the Z2300 for about four years sometimes having it on continuously for two or three days- never missing a beat. After returning an $80 KVM switch intended to flip between the Dell Precision and my old Optiplex 740, that after hours of fusing and tech support wouldn't work, I bought a $20 Logitech switch - another wired remote, and it worked instantly and always.
It's good that you brought up computer sound, as this site seems focused on graphics and sound is very little considered.
Cheers,
BambiBoom
[ Dell Precision T5400 > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16 GB ECC > Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 / Segt Brcda 500GB > windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit > AutoCad, Revit, Solidworks 2010, Sketchup Pro, Corel Technical Designer, Adobe CS4 MC, WordP Office, MS Office ]