> I could just use multiple HDMI inputs on the main monitor and switch when I need to That's perfect if you have multiple inputs. If you don't, a simple KVM sw

> I could just use multiple HDMI inputs on the main monitor and switch when I need to That's perfect if you have multiple inputs. If you don't, a simple KVM switch would do the trick too. Unfortunately they're a little pricy for HDMI due to low supply/demand. I have a soundcard primarily for offloading as much audio processing from the CPU as I can. Music playback of high-bitrate files is far from perfect even when you're using a soundcard, with frequent crackling, but using WASAPI mode all but completely clears up crackling when I play music. It's also worth noting that if your passed-through GPU is decent enough, you can just use the HDMI as an audio source. I also have a USB audio interface for my mic and instruments, directly connected to a passed-through USB controller instead of using the soundcard inputs, which helps reduce the noise floor. Having a dedicated USB controller is very important for reducing latency. A lot of computers nowadays come with at least two, but if you have one then you'll need to get a cheap but reliable USB PCI card. And you have to be careful selecting which chipset because not all of them support Function-Level Reset which means you can only pass through once before needing to restart your computer, and not all of them correctly implement Message Signaled Interrupts which means you could have problems passing through certain configurations of PCI devices. From here, my next plan is to purchase one of these[0] which may mean I don't even need a soundcard for output at all. It might be the best solution for virtualization right now in terms of latency and offloading processing from your CPU. However the soundcard might still be necessary if this DAC doesn't support processing at different bit-rates on the fly. Currently my setup allows for me to play songs with different bitrates at their natural bitrate when using WASAPI, preventing the need for downsampling or upsampling. Reaaaaally noticeable with things like raw video game MIDI formats where different bitrates sound completely different. Your processor should be fine, my 6700k and 16GB of RAM are plenty. Though if we weren't still in a NAND shortage I would upgrade to 32GB. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LP3AMC2/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_9?smid=A2XGE4CX5AV74X&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LP3AMC2/ref=ox_sc_saved...