External soundcard recomendations for W2V users

Since ASUS refuses to even acknowledge that there is any problem with the W2V audio even with overwhelming evidence I think that we can assume that they don't intend to fix it, despite ProPortables insistense to the contrary

So I have decided that my only option is to get an external USB soundcard.
Which are the good ones out there? My criteria for good is that it should have good stereo sound and be as plug and play friendly as possible. Ideally it should switch between the built in speakers and the USB sound automatically when I plug in and out the USB cable. Are there any USB soundcards that can do that?

The Soundblasters seem to be popular but the drivers seem to be quite buggy and bloated, at least for the internal versions. How are the external ones?

 

.... don't assume a thing. Just like the "red ghosting" issue on the older Z70va's, Asus heard about it first from this forum and then they needed to deal with it. Asus' official response to me was they put out a new bios to "fix" my initial findings from back in September and now they have to have the techs in Taiwan look at the this issue again in a new way. You're talking about a ginormous company who has to first understand, then test, then program a fix. If you want to say I'm insisting this while no one else is seeing any movement......... until someone else has access to a higher level Asus official who can actually tell you what is going on..... take what I say as the word, because the only other news you'll find is on web forums and from the low level people end-users can speak to at Asus who you'll be lucky if they know more than what it says on the whitepapers in front of them..

I know this doesn't have anything to do with your question on external soundcards, but if you mention me, expect response.