[alterom]

Let's say, digital audio production and digital synths running on commodity PCs was a thing since the 1980s.

I'm OK with having computational limitations that musicmakers had in 2000s. Heck, some of my favorite softsynths are from that time (Superwave P8, 4Front and other romplers, Dexed, etc).

The weak CPUs today handle them without a problem.

Hell, I've produced plenty of music on Intel Atom-powered Asus Eee1000 netbook back in what was it, 2008-2010, and I'm still using the very same software.

>low-channel sound cards

What do you even mean by this?

In any case, a USB audio adapter that solves all the audio issues costs $20 these days.