Soundcards

Looking to perk up a machine I just got and use it for audio but I'm struggling to figure out which kind of sound card I want without blowing too much cash.

Here is what I want:

At least 1 decent input for recording (Not entirely essential atm)

At least 1, but preferably two MIDI i/o

More than one channel so I can record on one in cubase and playback on another as well as properly use traktor for cueing.

Decent Headphone jack that isn't hard to reach.

Needs to be PCI obviously.

Anything on top of that is a bonus. The big things are the playback/recording in cubase and at least one midi i/o for my Yamaha Clavinova. I'd like to keep it around $100 or less. I'd be willing to spend more though since I'll probably be building a more powerful setup in January and could just swap it to the new machine.

why not go for something external, easy as pie to swap pcs then.

actually dont listen to me ive got no idea what im talking about im just in a chatty mood.

I've thought about an external one since I have a couple laptops now too but I havent been terriably impressed with any of the USB ones I've seen and my laptops don't have firewire.

You might consider the Echo Indigo plus a USB MIDI interface. If you're vigilant you might be able to get one second-hand on ebay for under $100. I use an Indigo in addition to an RME Multiface and they complement eachother nicely.

The Multiface does most of the heavy lifting now, but I got along perfectly well with the Indigo for about a year before adding the RME. Now I use the Indigo mostly for listening to tracks or for sound editing. It has very good sound quality.