Onboard Audio Vs External USB Sound Cards (Realtek ALC898 vs Sony UAB80)

Is onboard audio any good? Hey guys after a lot of research etc and testing and messing around I have basically come to a conclusion that onboard audio is definitely not as good as I thought it was.... The amplication is reallly shithouse but the DACs and ADCs and the signals are pretty good (and the really really good thing is the optical out which is included on the realtek alc898), basically the cheap USB card didn't have as good as dacs etc. but it certainly had LESS noise when it came to recording and also had better output which is certainly better than having a better signal if you are a home user with a pair of headphones and wanting to do some basic commentary. I am not sure how more expensive PCI or PCIe cards would sound but I imagine they too would be better (i.e. a realtek alc892 vs Asus Xonar DGX - I would pick the latter anyday...)

And external is usually important because it isn't going to suffer any noise from the components within the case (which is pretty important IMO).

Anyway guys hope you enjoyed this test and comparison and if you need any more information please let me know and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

The microphone and m-audio audio unit I am using can be seen here:    • BEHRINGER B-1 Test Condensor Micropho...