Well, AIWA is not considered the pinnacle of audiophile equipment, and the crummy connectors on the sound card probably don't help much either. I would hesitate to judge MP3s based on your testing equipment.

I tested them using my empeg into a NAD pre-amp, then out to a Bryston 2B 100-watt amp (this was prior to installing into my car). I had no problems with static - moreso with a lack of clarity at the top end, but that is the problem with MP3s, not the system.