imic / soundblaster / etc. the best/cheapest soundcard, is the imic awful? Options

[radiohead]

I need audio input for my g4 tower. I dont want to spend alot. Im wondering about the quality of the imic...i dont have to have perfect quality..just good. Is the soundblaster soundcard better? Ive heard there are glitches with the OS system. Basically, im wondering if im gonna be really disappointed with the imic and should just save up for like an audiophile or something better. But if the imic is pretty decent then i wouldnt mind. I want the music to sound good..but dont have the resources to get one of those $300+ cards. Ive heard there might be something in the $100 range...if so is it that much better than the $35 imic? Thanks so much for your time. ANy info is greatly appreciated. jjj

[Synthetic]

I would recommend going to MusiciansFriend.com and looking at something like M-audio audio card. The Soundblaster seems like nice deal but I have heard to many problems with it on both PC and Macs. The imic might work for you but seems more of a novelty type thing really.

Look or search for the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 PCI Digital Audio Card at MF in the 'recodring section'. Its a bit more in price at $179 but it has stereo analog inputs as well as digital S/PDIF inputs and outputs that may come in handy as your music needs grow and it should offer better quality than the 2 options you had mentioned.