I’d like the lowest cost that will satisfy the above.I’d like a simple foolproof setup and trouble-free drivers.I’d prefer to use a PCI slot to avoid USB latency, cable clutter, etc.I don’t need to record audio with this card, so I don’t need mic inputs, preamps, etc.

I don’t want problems in either direction. I know with some of the ASIO drivers that people have complained that when they switch to, say Youtube in a browser, that the browser doesn’t give up the audio stream when switching back to Cubase, regardless of how the checkbox for 'allow ASIO host.' is set. I don’t want to have to output to separate speakers for different applications. I use my PC for many audio playback tasks - browsers (e.g., Youtube and Vimeo), editors such as Premiere Pro and Adobe Audition, other DAWs such as FL Studio, apps such as iTunes, etc.I’d like a good company that’s been around for awhile and is doing well so theyill stay around for a while to update drivers as I update to new versions or Windows or Cubase (right now I’m C11, Win 10) and provide good tech support.My speakers are a cheap Logitech package with two midrange/treble speakers on the wall and a subwoofer under the desk, and that’s fine. I don’t need high fidelity - people listen to my music on mobile phones and cheap bluetooth speakers, so no real bass and 10% THD (and gobs and piles of IM) are realistic for auditioning.I'm told problems like that will melt like dew in the summer sunshine if I get a decent dedicated sound card. I recently had Cubase 11 Pro give me the silent treatment after plugging and unplugging my headphone jack several times and I was told both here and on the Cubase user forum that I can't do that when I'm running on the PC's built-in soundcard, even though I'm using the Generic Low Latency ASIO driver.

Generic low latency asio driver for mac