....and, then it clicked.

i'm getting the same dead tone out of both cards.

so, if i was mixing on the mixer, and i listened to it through the pci card, it would sound the same. and i'd never know.

so, out of desperation, i busted the wdm by uninstalling it, moving the driver, restarting and reinstalling.

this actually worked.

i'll have to test it a bunch more. but i think that's it: i need to bust the underlying windows architecture flat out and reinstall it.

why that might be is a different question....