When recording with a PC, or using a PC for audio work, you have to pay attention to the input level. In many cases, the soundcard is of lower audio quality than the source. In order to get the best sound of it, the best way is to set the input level of the sound card at 0dB, and use a mixer or the source to set the recording or working level. That way, you can get a quite decent sound even with the built-in sound card of a laptop and their combined line/mic input (0dB correspond to their line input level in that combi case).
Another issue is the sampling rate of the sound card. Many sound cards of today have a hardware that will always sample at the maximum sampling rate the card can do, and that make a sampling rate conversion when the sampling frequency of the sound server of the computer is lower. Cheap hardware will imply cheap conversion, and with them, you will get a better result by using the maximum sampling rate the card can do when recording, and make a good quality software sampling rate conversion later.