Powermac Intergrated Audio (any Good?) Options

[opiepac]

(This is not a PC vs Mac post, but I will give some intro)

I'm a long time x86 user, having used about 50/50 of windows and linux. I prefer linux, but I'm crazy about trying OSX and want to use it for my home audio recording, photo editing, and eventual video editing. I'm looking at a Power Mac dual 2.0GHz, or something similar if they do update the line, along with Tiger. Now to my question:

Is the integrated audio on the current Power Mac any good? In the PC world, its a mixed bag, intel's integrated audio is horrible, I've heard some of the nVIDIA nForce integrated audio is pretty decent (for integrated audio). I'm curious as to what people think of the stuff on the Power Mac. My initial thoughts are that it might be okay, considering its got optical in/out. Perhaps a description of the rest of my setup may help:

I will be using an M-Audio Firewire Solo for recording, so I can do either two line in's or 1 line in and 1 XLR. This is to be used for my demo's, its not a pro setup for sure. The Solo has digital coax in/out also. Should I use this to hookup to my stereo for monitoring, or should I use the Power Mac optical out?

Eventually, I may be inclined to buy a sound card as an upgrade, I've heard that the PCI-X ones are the way to go. But for now, I'd prefer to limit my purchases to the PowerMac if possible.

Thanks in advance for any help ...

Evan