You'll find most boards have a Realtek sound processor --- they are really quite good, so much so that few people bother to spend money on an add-on soundcard these days like they used to. I'd say Realtek have pretty much cornered the on-board audio market so little point in looking around for others ---- I certainly wouldn't choose a motherboard based on it's sound chip anyway. That can easily be changed with add-on card if you so wish, the other fixed components and the board's build quality are far more important.
EVGA surprised just about everyone by releasing a high-end PCIe sound card, a product from a category many consider as good as dead. We thoroughly tested the NU Audio with a wide range of headphones and speakers, and saw truly amazing results and were blown away by its amazing performance.
I beg to differ. My Schiit Modi Multibit DAC and Magni amp kick the snot out of your cards. And you can just keep getting more and more expensive and better electronics if you choose