On board sound

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but yu guys have ben helpful in
the past.

I have 8RDA+ ver 2 board with xp2600 barton core the on board sound works
and is ok for my needs, but what I am thinking of doing is putting my old
sound blaster live platinum, which has the adapter that fits in a drive bay
and puts midi etc on the front of the case, in to the computer so that my
daugther can connect a midi keyboard and appropriate software to use.

What I would like to know is

1. How does the on board sound system compare to a dedicated card?
2. Does the on board sound system provide for midi connection i.e via the
gameport as some sound blaster cards do.?


Thanks in advance. If this is the wrong place, sorry.