Do I Even Need A Soundcard? Options

[humbug]

Hi there, I'm a newbie. I just threw away some money on an Edirol UA-30 USB audio interface which sucks and is WAYYY too noisy. I did a side by side test with running sound straight into my minijack (on a G4 Powerbook) and the sound was sooo much better.

So... why do I even need a soundcard? I've heard that M-Audio makes decent devices, but to me they look just like the cheap, plastic piece of crap I just bought. Is it just that Edirol sucks? Did I get a bum device? Are other devices that much better? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[ourmanflinty]

Hmm usb v firewire v pci...well, laptop so usb v firewire..unless you got a pcmcia pci exp chassis. it's not cut n dried, usb can and does deliver good audio quality, ask apogee, they use it for the mini me, mini dac etc and you can't tell me they aint top-quaility by-which-all-others-can-be-measured. True they are only one way devices, ie mini me goes in but you can't monitor, and...if the bus is busy doing mouse midi dongle keyboard broadband modem etc etc then you run the risk of delays getting the info in and out on time, give the interface it's own bus and you have a good chance of success. Personally I hate usb since that poxy mbox usb crapped out on stage with a sosumi through the pa and 'usb too busy' on the screen as i was playing with plug-ins live. But if someone offered me a usb apogee cheap i'd consider it and be careful how i used it.