Three years ago when I was looking for a new soundcard I rang up support at RME as I was thinking about getting a PCI based unit. The support guy said that it was their contention that the USB drivers in many previous cards from other companies were badly written. As a company they had spent a long time researching this problem. I said that as a guitar player I was wanting low latency. He replied “exactly, which is why I think you will find the USB version will do exactly what you want”.Like enjneer I had been very prejudiced against USB units. I talked with the guy’s who were building my new computer and they confirmed they were seeing excellent results too, so I went ahead.
Two things stood out immediately. 1 the sound quality was so much better than my previous card. 2 the gliching at lower latencies were gone. Also the build quality was fantastic. I even liked the Total Mix software once I understood it.
Which leaves me with the inescapable conclusion that this is a company I will stick with.