Sound quality with Audio Interface and without

[osiris]

The headphones can be an issue. I had some great noise canceling headphones but they were underpowered for the computer.
My cheap Sony was louder. Not better, louder.

[metamorphosis]

In my experience outboard is usually miles and miles ahead of onboard, but it depends on the motherboard and how much interference is coming through. And even on outboard devices you can get USB interference if they're USB-powered. I use a focusrite 2i2 but have altered the USB cable so that power comes from a USB-charger wall socket instead. Otherwise the USB-noise was just HIdeous. I'm not even talking subtle, I'm talking scraping the inside of your skull bad.