There’s some information here: https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/sound-card-reviews/8375/1
The best choice of sound card largely depends on what he will be recording and budget.
The best version of Audacity is currently 1.3.12, but it is due to be superseded very soon (probably next week) by Audacity 1.3.13.
I’ll move this topic to the “Recording Equipment” section.