musicmashane
New member
Hi all! Nice to be here!
I'm brand new to these forums, and while I asked over at Cockos/Reaper forums, I figured find some other cool online communities for future questions regarding home production!
SO MY QUESTION IS ABOUT SOUND CARDS / INTERFACES
Whether on-board or usb external, I'm entirely new to them. I mean, I understand that their primary role is to 'process' sound, but that's about all I understand on the matter.
Here's my issue and question:
I'm on a Toshiba Satellite C75D and the sound on it is terrible! There's a 'smart audio' interface that does add some of sound back, but it turns out the overall sound on this thing is just junk and I'm not the only one who has noticed it with this particular model!
So, I've been looking into some decent, but not too pricey external soundcards around the $200 range.
Two I have in mind for about my budget so far are:
Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 USB Audio Interface
and
M-Audio MTRACK QUAD Audio Interface
(opinions on these and any other suggestions are welcome)
But what I'm really needing to know is, does hooking up an external sound card completely bypass the on-board sound-card and software where I have problems with quality of sound? That's good if so and what I'd rather it do!
Or, does the sound still run through my on-board card and software, and then the external just 'enhances' it or adds additional 'processing power?'
If the 'city water system' is faulty I'd rather just avoid it's use entirely, and use an entirely different outside system, as opposed to having the water that's already been tainted by the main system, and then trying to 'clean it up' with the additional system!
I'm just wondering if having an external sound interface like these takes on the entire sound processing themselves from start to finish and doesn't even touch and utilize anything from what's built in to my computer, so long as I tell whatever programs to do so!
To reinforce this question, in theory let's say I had no on-board sound-card at all. Would having an external card/interface like above mean I'd be able to play / produce music or do anything else requiring audio?
I hope it makes sense to you sound junkies and gurus
I'm brand new to these forums, and while I asked over at Cockos/Reaper forums, I figured find some other cool online communities for future questions regarding home production!
SO MY QUESTION IS ABOUT SOUND CARDS / INTERFACES
Whether on-board or usb external, I'm entirely new to them. I mean, I understand that their primary role is to 'process' sound, but that's about all I understand on the matter.
Here's my issue and question:
I'm on a Toshiba Satellite C75D and the sound on it is terrible! There's a 'smart audio' interface that does add some of sound back, but it turns out the overall sound on this thing is just junk and I'm not the only one who has noticed it with this particular model!
So, I've been looking into some decent, but not too pricey external soundcards around the $200 range.
Two I have in mind for about my budget so far are:
Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 USB Audio Interface
and
M-Audio MTRACK QUAD Audio Interface
(opinions on these and any other suggestions are welcome)
But what I'm really needing to know is, does hooking up an external sound card completely bypass the on-board sound-card and software where I have problems with quality of sound? That's good if so and what I'd rather it do!
Or, does the sound still run through my on-board card and software, and then the external just 'enhances' it or adds additional 'processing power?'
If the 'city water system' is faulty I'd rather just avoid it's use entirely, and use an entirely different outside system, as opposed to having the water that's already been tainted by the main system, and then trying to 'clean it up' with the additional system!
I'm just wondering if having an external sound interface like these takes on the entire sound processing themselves from start to finish and doesn't even touch and utilize anything from what's built in to my computer, so long as I tell whatever programs to do so!
To reinforce this question, in theory let's say I had no on-board sound-card at all. Would having an external card/interface like above mean I'd be able to play / produce music or do anything else requiring audio?
I hope it makes sense to you sound junkies and gurus