Personally (as a musician), I'd recommend using a USB card that supports 1/4" jacks (namely TRS connections). These are usually used for recording instruments via MIDI. I've been using my old L6 TonePort UX1 for a while now, and I've had zero complaints as my primary sound card. You can find used ones for a pretty good price, and they support much higher quality connections than the 3.5mm outputs most gaming sound cards provide (I prefer to stick with 1/4" for all outputs). This will also give you a better card to run if you ever decide to use studio monitors. For serious/audiophile/studio listening, I wouldn't get a sound card that isn't TRS supported, as a shielded cable is pretty essential for the purest audio delivery to the speakers; this especially goes for cables that run beyond the 10' length (you can get away with 15-20' having little/no bleeding, but that's pushing it for listening quality).
My UX1 supports TRS out for both L/R output channels, as well as a 1/4" headphone jack (for headphones, 1/4" isn't a requirement for 'best' quality), and dual 1/4" line inputs (I believe they are TRS) for recording, as well as a 1/4" instrument and XLR mic input. Definitely overkill for your use, but it it's definitely a decent option to consider. And... you can probably grab a used, newer version in the $70-100 range. There are also a few decent studio USB sound cards in the $100 range if you want multiple outputs you can control individually (from one input, of course). I'll be upgrading my TonePort for a two/three output studio card some time soon; that way I can run studio monitors, headphones, and my stereo, all from the same card/source. It's definitely an option to consider.