So i’ve currently been producing for about 2 years and I’ve been mixing on a sony stereo system. The speakers are ok and they seem to translate well when i listen to my mixes on other speakers or headphones. Regardless, i soon want to get a pair of studio monitors. However, i hear from many people that i need a soundcard to get the most of my productions, but i hardly use any actual synths or actual hardware, everything i do is pretty much VST and MIDI. So do i need soundcard despite the fact that i dont use hardware? What exactly do I need it for?
the sound interface to monitors will give you the best sound quality. why spend the extra money on monitors that are supposed to give true sound, if you feed them with a sound that’s degraded?
i strongly considered those alesis USB 520’s because they have a built in interface. (and are cheap).
The DACs on those Alesis monitors are probably no better than what came with your production computer…especially if it’s Apple.
@OP: Probably not.
If you’ve got the money for a decent interface and either have a reason or just want to…go ahead.
But, realistically, if you have a modern computer, the sound output is probably good enough that you’re not going to hear a difference in quality without good speakers, a good room, good ears, and a sound card that costs at least several hundred dollars. If you’re not recording and you can’t hear the difference, why waste money just so your sound is imperceptibly better?
The sound card is not the limiting factor on the quality of my in-the-box productions…not by a long shot. I seriously doubt that you’re any different. I doubt most people are any different in that regard…so don’t let people BS you into thinking the sound card is limiting what you can do. They’re mostly there for convenience until you’re good/experienced enough to know you need something better. I’m certainly not there yet, and if you’re asking this question here, I’d hazard to guess that neither are you.
If you can hear the difference…by all means, buy the best card you can afford. I’d start by looking at Avid or Apogee, but I’m a fanboy. I also think that most production/recording-oriented cards that cost less than $600 are probably not good enough to justify paying for. I might not buy one unless I wind up with money to burn until I can justify dropping $2000. But I don’t like doing things halfway.
I think $200 to $400 interfaces are probably all wastes of money, though they’re obviously better than nothing if you need the inputs or preamps and can’t afford better. If that’s where you are, I’d look at the Avid MBox 3 and Komplete Audio 6 as my first stops in that price range, though I’d probably try to save more if possible.
If you’d just be buying because people tell you that you probably should…I wouldn’t bother. Most of the time, I just use my headphones plugged into the normal output on my MBP…switching to a rebranded focusrite card that’s supposed to be pretty good…doesn’t change anything. It just gives me a mic preamp.
Switching to a PT HD rig running a trio of $5000 sound cards, a $10,000 monitoring setup, and a $50,000 room custom-built and tuned for studio work…that’s an audible difference. But considering the price difference between a half-million dollar studio (when you count everything including computer and software) and, well…the free output that came with my MBP…the difference is a lot smaller than you’d think. It’s definitely audible. But it’s pretty small in the grand scheme of things.
$200 headphones make a much bigger difference than a $200 sound card.
Here is what I started with.. USB Midi Keyboard and Audio Interface built in AND XLR Mic input with Phantom Power
It will give you GREAT sound quality, if you buy yourself some Monitors… Stereo Systems just do not work for producing/mixing.. I started out the same way.. and once I upgraded, my whole world changed…
The only downfall with the Ozone is it doesnt have an Output volume control knob, so you will need to change volume manually.. but for getting started, it’s great.. plus, once you decide to upgrade, you can still use it as a keyboard.
And to answer your question.. Some software will not work without an Audio Interface… and you will need one if you decide to get Monitors… otherwise you will have no way to get the sound to them.
You will also notice with an Audio Interface (as opposed to the built in PC soundcard) your latency will be greatly decreased (the time it takes to translate a key you press into sound, and send it back out through the speakers)
I’m sure you’ve probably noticed a bit of lag from time to time…
Guitar center said the same thing to me when i asked if i need an audio interface for monitors. I responded with “You could use an 1/8th inch stereo to two 1/4inch mono cable. most of the monitors I’ve looked at have both XLR and 1/4 mono inputs.” and was told that would work, but i’d lose sound quality making the monitors not worth it.
they basically talked me out of $300+ sale, which was odd. Although typically I don’t listen to their advice and I would just hook it up using the above cabling anyway. :shrug:
yeah, they’re kinda wrong, dependin on the interface your computer has. idk what kinds of sound cards modern PCs come with, but the output on MBPs sounds damn good for being free. the input even sounds pretty damn good for what it is.
again, if you’re just looking for sound quality, tuning your room with diffusers, bass traps, an the like makes a much bigger difference than the audio interface. and even the difference between a $200 sound card and a $5000 sound card isn’t that huge unless you’re recording real instruments or hhve already done everything else right.
Well, you are Technically right, i guess I should have expanded a little..
What i meant by the word “need” was basically, in order to justify a purchase of monitors (in my opinion) you “need” and interface of some sort.. They have much lower latency (time it takes to process audio and get to the monitors) and usually, in general, better quality circuitry than a dinky sound card that comes built onto a motherboard.. The way I see it, you are choosing between a company that specializes in audio vs one that specializes in efficiency.. I’ve come to find that there is not a lot of room for Efficiency when it comes to actual good quality audio reproduction..
again, Just my opinion
But hey, no harm in doing whatever is cheaper to begin with.. Like i said before, i started almost exactly the way you did, Sony Stereo system, etc… I actually started with a Sound Blaster Extigy external sound card, it had 24bit audio and an optical out. (the best i could afford at the time) but it did the trick..
I actually still own it and am trying to sell it cheap lol..
i mean…i watch movies with my KRKs, usually with a stereo mini to dual rca cable, a DI box, and a bunch of stuff daisy chained together to run it through my xone so i have to rewire fewer things when i move my laptop from my dj kit to my desk…sounds fine.
