[YukonTrooper]

Somewhere along the line you need the sound to be analog, as our ears require analog to hear.

I believe, however, you're talking specifically about analog outputs on sound-cards being phased out? Well, considering that the signal has to be converted to analog somewhere along the line, I don't see it happening. If analog outputs were phased out on sound-cards, then the DAC required for the digital-to-analog conversion would have to be moved somewhere else in the audio line. This is already the case with speakers like the Z5500's, where the DAC inside the control-housing for the speakers does the conversion from the digital signal from the sound-card. However, these DAC's are inferior to what are found in standalone sound-cards. I definitely don't see analog outputs being phased out as some industry standard. That would be absolutely ridiculous.