question about soundcards

[Roc]

Hey everyone I just would like to know wat exactly does a sound card do. I have a mixer for my mic and the man in the store told me that i don't need a new soundcard for my computer because the mixer has a soundcard built in. Can someone please explain to me basically wat a soundcard does and do i need a new one if i have a behringer mixer

 

[Bristol Posse]

The primary function of a computers on board (built in sound card) is to take data from files such as WAV or MP3 or MPEG and turn is into sound played back through your computer speakers. This is (very basically Digital to Analog conversion or DA)
the onboard chip does an OK job of this

An after market soundcard such as Soundblaster (by Creative) does a better job of this conversion from Digital back to analog sound that your speakers can play but it also adds equalization and some bumps in certain frequencies to make movies and games sound better through computer speakers.

What these both are really really really poor at is analog to Digital AD conversion which is where you take a sound in the real world and record it into a computer byturning it into data

so long story short what your mixer most likely has is in essence a replacement for your onboard sound. Since it is designed for audio production and not game or movie playback it will do a much better job of converting real sound into data and back again withhout adding any color to "Enhance" playback as a gaming/onboard soundcard does (like a disco smile on a graphic equalizer)
This means you can get a good accurate recording of your sound and then get a good accurate playback (assuming you have and accurate monitoring set up in an accoustically treated room) so you can properly hear and mix your sounds without the distraction of the added color and "enhancement and terrible conversion on board sound gives you