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Audio Interface - Enables Your PC to Record & Playback Audio!Audio Interface means a professional soundcard! It enables your Computer to record & playback audio. You will need it if you want to do serious audio work on your computer.
Check out the best Audio Interfaces here... If you want to do most of your recording on your computer, then having a professional soundcard (Audio Interface) is an absolute must, as the quality of the sound produced is based on this important piece of hardware. But before we proceed further into the details, a brief description of what a soundcard is and how it fits inside your computer. Soundcard vs. Audio interfaceA sound card is a hardware that lets you record and playback audio.It sits inside the computer in a PCI slot and you connect all the cables at the back of this card. Professional soundcards, also known as Audio interfaces, on the other hand has a box that sits outside the PC and a cable that is connected to the PC, either to the PCI card or to the USB/Firewire slot depending on the type of the interface. The breakout box contains slots for all the input and output audio/midi connections. If you are just getting started with music recording on your computer and are comfortable opening up your pc, then you may go a basic PCI audio interface. But if you want the connection to be simple, then go in for a basic USB audio interface. For better speed and response, and if your computer has a fire-wire port, you can consider a firewire interface. Components that Affect PerformanceDrivers and DACs are the two components that have a major impact on the performance of your soundcards.The better the quality of these two things, the better the sound is going to be. These are one of the important reasons because of which the professional soundcards cost more than consumer soundcards. Drivers are the software components that allow audio computer programs to talk to your soundcard; they come along with the card. The drivers basically manage the traffic of data between the CPU, DAC and the audio application as and when it is needed. DACs are converters that are physically present on the soundcard. The converters job is to read the incoming analog waveform and transform it into digital data. This important process is known as sampling and it determines the quality of your recorded sound. Once the digital data is on your computer, it is very easy to manipulate it in different ways and store it on your computer. Limitations of Consumer SoundcardsWith a brief background on the internals of a soundcard, you will agree that although most of the consumer soundcards that comes built-in with your computer can be used for audio playback and recording, these soundcards are not meant to be used for music production.Some of the limitations of a consumer sound card include: Advantages of using an Audio InterfaceProfessional cards, AKA Audio Interfaces, on the other hand, do not have the limitations listed above making them suitable for serious audio work. Some of the features on a professional soundcard include:Choosing a Professional Audio InterfaceYou will need to select a soundcard depending on what sort of studio setup you want to have.You will have to make sure that the soundcard has inputs/outputs to connect to most of your gear. In general, the following are some of the instruments that you will need to connect to your soundcard. You may also need external Preamps to raise the level of your mic's. Though most of the soundcards have built-in preamps, only the more expensive ones have really good preamps. Besides the above mentioned gear, most of the other things like compressors, gates, Reverb and other special effects can be used as software in your Computer. So you do not need connections for these. You can get started with music production on your computer with these budget audio sound cards. Choose either a PCI audio interface or the easy to connect USB audio interface or the faster firewire interface. Driver ProblemsAnother thing to consider while choosing a soundcard is to make sure that the drivers will work on your computer/operating system.This is actually a tricky area since the drivers behave differently on different machines. Even if it works, you may have to download a different set of drivers whenever a new operating system is launched. Just make sure that the soundcard you wish to buy has the following: Connecting your Sound CardSo how do you connect the soundcard to your computer? It can be done in either of these ways - PCI Interface, USB, Cardbus or Firewire.Out of these, only the PCI interface goes inside the computer, into the PCI slot. All the earlier soundcards used to be available only in this type and these soundcards can only be used with desktops. The other interfaces are external in the sense that the main box stays outside and a cable connects the box to the computer. Of all the external interfaces, the firewire interfaces are getting good reviews and are known to give good performances. It gets connected to the firewire port and can be used with laptops as well as desktop. They are very easy to connect and they also give you the option of portability. ManufacturersSome of the major and popular manufacturers/brands of professional soundcards include M-Audio, RME, Tascam, MOTU, PreSonus, Digidesign, Onyx, etc.With an overview of what things to look for in an Audio Interface, I think you should be able to find an Audio Interface that suits your needs the best. Recommended ProductsPCI Audio Interfaces PCI Audio Interfaces connect to a slot on your computer's hardware. So you will have to open up your CPU and connect these audio interfaces. You can get some good inexpensive ones. M-Audio Audiophile 2496 MIDI M-Audio Delta 1010-LT PCI RME HDSP 9632 PCI audio interface USB Audio Interfaces Behringer UCA222 U-Control Focusrite Saffire 6 USB Audio Interface M-Audio Fast Track Pro Apogee Duet 2 for Mac FireWire Audio Interfaces M-Audio Firewire Solo US35030 Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 Firewire PreSonus FireStudio Project M-Audio ProFire 2626 High-Definition Audio Interface Accessories On-Stage Laptop Computer Stand SKB Studio Flyer Portable Laptop Studio Rack iPad Stand, Kindle, Tablet, & eBook Holder MIDI Mobilizer More Audio Interfaces on Amazon Back to Audio Production |
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