Question about Soundcards

[sadamz85]

Sup,

This is prolly the dumbest question to be posted on this board, but I gotta ask it. What exactly can a "good" soundcard do that the soundcard I have now (the standard one on my laptop) can't do? I'm using FL Studio, Cool Edit, Oxygen 8 and some cheap ass turntable. I'm looking to upgrade my "studio" and I'm trying to figure out what I should first invest in. I know someone here know's this shit front to back, so give me some help.

Gracias.

Sadamz

 

[Architect]

The soundcard or audio interface is at the heart of any digital based studio. A "good" soundcard allows you higher bit rates, midi capabilities, multi-channel inputs and outputs, and has a lot to do with the overall sound quality that your going to get in your audio programs FL Studio, Cool Edit.

The "standard one on your laptop is just that, standard, if you wish to do more then upgrade when your ready but if your satisfied with your recordings now don't bother. But believe me when you do upgrade to a really good soundcard like a RME Multiface (in my opinion) you will notice the difference in sound quality.

 

[Dysphuncktional]

If you shell out several hundred for a proper soundcard you will have all the advantages my man above mentioned, plus good hardware ASIO support (meaning you can use your pc as a realtime effect box for your mic/guitar/bass for example), and the card will also usually have a number of dsp chips on them meaning that you now have some decent hardware effects on your soundcard, and that also means less load on your cpu for audio in some cases. Its all a matter of what card you get though. All in all, what the dude above said and what i just mentioned, makes it more than worth it to invest in a proper soundcard.