I am using Sonar Producer X3
 
Presently my sound card is an M-Audio Audiophille 192. I have a new computer with Windows 8.1 but there are no drivers for my card yet available. Some people in the M-Audio forums have posted that they had had success with the Win 7 non-SP1  drivers, I tried this and it doesn't work. Other people there say they have given up and have ditched M-audio cards.
 
I think I need to find another PCI or PCIe card as there as no signs of any Win 8.1 drivers forthcoming from the company at this time. Would someone please help me by advising me of comparable quality cards to the Delta 192. I've tried searching the forums without much success; I did find a few posts from years ago.
 
My music flow is through sample libraries (MIDI) then bounced to audio for mixing. For monitoring I output to KRK VXT 8 Studio Monitors and Shure SRH 940 Headphones. I don't do live recordings with this setup.
 
I have looked at the ESI Juli@ and the E-Mu 0404 PCIe cards. The Juli@ has options of balanced or unbalanced outputs but the E-mu is unbalanced only (my 192 has balanced outputs). I understand that both of these would be compatible with Win 8.1.
 
I'm feeling upset and disappointed I'm faced with having to part with my Audiophille 192 and to having to finance a new card at this time. Waiting for M-audio is not an option so I'd be really grateful if anyone can advise me on the above cards or suggest others to look at; I am definately looking at internal PCIe and not Firewire or USB.
 
Thanks for any help.

My first reaction is to not consider a sound card as a viable option, especially for work in a DAW. An audio interface is a better piece of gear, and I have become a diehard fan of the Focusrite brand. I have M-Audio gear, and never realized how bad their drivers are (even when updated versions were available) until I got my Focusrite. Everything "M-Audio" I own doesn't have drivers beyond Win7.
 
Focusrite has the Scarlett (USB) and Saffire (FireWire) product lines, and are definitely worth looking into. I do not blindly tout brand names often, but Focusrite is one that I do, just because many things they do fall into the "exceptional" bin.

Few PCi cards are available.  One guy I know made good music on a Julie 5 years ago.  In the box stuff.  If you want to do acoustic recording or even vo, an interface is the way to go, tho.
 
 

I would say the E-MU 1212M is more comparable to the Juli@ (and it has selectable balanced outs without needing to go all Power Rangers on the hardware). But even though I love my 1820M, E-MU is a slowly dying brand in this market and PCIe cards are not very actively supported anymore. They don't list any drivers for Windows 8. My 1820M only has beta drivers for Win7 and while I'm luckily able to say they're very stable, I think those are the last drivers to come out for that card.

USB interfaces right now seems the safest route and they don't seem to have the same latency issues they used to. Focusrite is very popular on this board, they make a wide range of affordable and decent sounding stuff. Quality wise I would probably rate them above the simpler M-Audio ones, although I believe yours was a well respected card in its range. RME is available in the higher end but may be over the top for you.

I'm using the same soundcard as you, the M-Audio Audiophile 192. Using Windows 8.1 and the latest 64 bit Windows 7 SP 1 drivers from the M-Audio site. Have never had a problem (see my computer specs below). And have been using Windows 8 since it was beta. I think I had to uninstall/reinstall the drivers when I installed Windows 8.1. You might try that. Other than that I don't know what the problem might be. Have tried other USB soundcards/audio interface but don't like them. Can't ever seem to get enough volume from them. Plus, don't see that the specs are any better than what I've got. Good luck.
 
Oh, I also have the original M-Audio USB MobilePre on another computer, using Windows 8.1 and have no problems with it either. 

The OP's problem maybe more to do with his motherboard than drivers.

Many MOBO's these days do an "emulation" of the PCI bus and legacy devices like the 192 etc which I think are PCI not PCIe have difficulty communicating properly.

check into RME, I've been using RME Babyface  for a couple of years now, highly recommend it.  I'm running windows 8.1, no problems at all.

ClassicMan, just curious: why the aversion to USB interfaces?
 
If you had one now, compatibility with any new computer or O/S would (probably) never be a problem. With a USB interface you could even migrate to a laptop or (shudder) a Mac. You'd also have a convenient headphone output with its own volume control, not to mention a handy volume control for your main speakers, too. And you never know, someday you might just want to plug in a condenser microphone and record your dog barking or something.
 
Given your modest requirements for all-ITB MIDI productions, a USB interface could be had for the same or less money than a PCIe card.

Well, Metelus, AT, SanderxPander, chasmcg, Mudgel, bz2838 and Bitflipper,  thank you so much for your replies, your advice was invaluable.
 
I was swayed by the level of advice to consider a USB Audio interface and the high praise for the Focusrite products. The result is a great-looking Focusrite Scarlet 2i4 now sitting on my desk.
 
I have to say, this is outstanding. Believe me when I say that when I listened to some of my Christmas tracks I actually heard things I'd not heard with my Audiophille 192 and the whole spectrum was clearer. The Audiophille 192 was a great card but I'd been using old drivers as a work-around not designed for my previous Windows 8 as there aren't any available.
 
Anyway, this is a revelation, I never thought I'd see the day when I'd take out my 192 to replace it with an external solution .. but I'm glad I did and it's thanks to all you folk .. you're tops.

Glad to hear that went so well for you!