Good sound card for PC?

Hello,
 
My old sound card (emu 1010) seems to not wake from sleep well (distortion) requiring reboots, so I'm looking for a good sound card for occasional input but mostly output with low latency, lots of capacity, etc. for my newer PC. It need only a stereo in and stereo out at minimum. The choices are many these days, but what do y-all recommend?
 
Thanks!

Sleep is the problem not the interface. SONAR does not wake up well, sleep should not be used with a DAW. It might be possible to recover from sleep by disabling and enabling the interface drivers but can't say for sure, my PC never sleeps or hibernates. The PC is always on until turned off.

Thanks for the replies. I'm an hobbyist, so I wouldn't be motivated to dump too much money in to things like low noise floors, 8 ins/outs, etc. I at least want something that doesn't buzz with headphones on like my MOBO sound offering, and perhaps play regular music through while working on other things. I assumed a break-out box of some kind would make sure there wasn't any buzz and relatively low noise (although my emu card is pretty quiet). I'd not be willing to pay more than around $200, but would rather pay around $100.
 
The wake-from-sleep distortion on my emu card shows itself intermittently with any sound that's sent to it. Right now, I have it set to my default sound source for the PC, so all sounds sound distorted many times after waking up (not just Sonar). I assume it's the outdated drivers that don't reset some of the card's voltage bias levels after waking up (relying on a cold boot only). I'd rather not keep this workstation powered 24/7, but perhaps the electricity costs of doing so would never accumulate to the cost of buying a new sound card.

Don't use the emu as the default sound source.  Some people do and have no problems, others have problems.  If your head hurts every time you do this, stop it.  Pain goes away.  Same as sleep.  Sometimes it works fine for me, but about half the time the computer wakes up and needs coffee.
 
But your best bet in that price range is probably a focusrite.  I don't use one, but lots of people here do and have success.  They seem happy w/ the drivers and sound.  Another option (at the upper end of your money) is the TC Electronic.  FW, tabletop w/ a nice vol knob, OK drivers and very good sound.  I haven't heard it next to other low end interfaces side by side, but it is the same hardware as their pro units which I used for years and are excellent.

i've had great success with a Maudio Audiophile 192 card.
 
excellent convertors,
very simple interface,
decent latency

Might consider a audio/interface that does not cost much more, but has the correct connections to plug in instruments or a microphones (or midi if you need it which raises the cost about $100 more at least). Sound cards do not have that.
 

Still not the correct connections, like XLR. All my equipment has XLR connections or 1/4" line (TRS) connections.
And a regular old soundcard like most bought have only mini-stereo connections. (3.5mm connections).
 

in other words, these ARE the correct connections.
 
there are many ways to connect.