Whay are the advantages to an Audigy card compared to the integrated sound chip? Is it true that the inside of a PC is so "noisy" that expensive cards are just that..expensive?
The inside of a PC is not a place for clean power lines, steady power supply, various electrical noises. Which depending on make, CPU, PSU, extra cards, direction of wind/phase of moon etc will cause more or less audible noise for in-built sound systems.
So you pays for a seperate card or an external unit (connects via USB normally).
What you get is dedicated electronics, designed for good audio performance in & out, kept away from all the in-case noise. I have begun using an external SB Live 24bit USB box from Creative ... and getting good responses.
A pitty that I had to do this; the on-motherboard sound chip on my rig is nearly as good (on paper) but as I'm doing recording the noise & interference I was getting was unacceptable.