Perhaps because I live in South Florida, but the headphone jack of my laptop always gives a little snap, crackle or pop when jarred and hooked to an amp. I use Caig DeOxit and ProGold religiously on all my connections, which minimizes the problem but doesn't take it away.

I've never had this happen with a USB to Audio interface. That in itself is a good reason for me to go with the USB-Audio. I bought a low-end Edirol model in 2002 for around $50 and it still works perfectly.

A few years ago I read some tests in a trade magazine where they measured the bandwidth from the headphone jack of various computers and a few USB to Audio converters. All the USB to Audio interfaces had better output bandwidth than the headphone jacks. Not only were more highs passed by the USB converters, but the frequency curve (signature) was much flatter.

Of course, whether or not this is something a person can actually hear is another issue entirely. Also, what is the bandwidth and signature curve of your amp/speaker system. If the USB to Audio goes to 22khz and your speaker rolls off at 14k, that 22k won't be heard anyway.

So there are a lot of variables here.

Then you must consider where you are going to perform. I perform in noisy environments (night clubs, private parties, etc.) where no mater how respectful the audience can be (and they aren't always that respectful) the ambient noise in the room masks out any imperfections in bandwidth. So the output of the headphone jack would probably be just fine for me. But if my hand accidentally brushes across the cable enough to wiggle the plug the slightest, the pop coming out of the loudspeakers will be startling. For this reason only, the $50 ea investment for 2 USB - Audio interfaces was worth it. (The second one is for a backup, which I have never needed. I do swap them every couple of years though so that they both get used).

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