How does a soundcard work?
I have seached the internett for what equipmen I need do produce, and one thing everyone have said is “a soundcard”. how does actualy a soundcard work? do i need one?
yep. pretty much what you need for everything related to audio
Basically a sound card converts digital info into audio signals and vice versa. You laptop has one, but it is not sufficient for production.
Some have midi in and outs, and powered mic inputs.
http://blog.dubspot.com/understanding-audio-interfaces/ this should help.
The one in your laptop is probably fine. Especially if you are only just starting out.
Sound cards with multiple outs are a different story - but you don’t necessarily need one of those for production - as you CAN do all of your mixing/FX/etc.. inside your machine.
Don’t know what a sound card does, all I know is it just makes it sound 10 times better.
You plug it into your laptop/PC and you then run cables from your soundcard to a set of speakers, so you can hear music you are producing loud and clear..
Like others have said, you probably won’t need one if you’re just starting out.
It’s primary use is for the inputs/outputs it offers. So if you’re recording guitars and vocals, I would definitely look into getting one.
Its secondary use is having a dedicated device used to process audio. All computers have an integrated “sound card” in some form. If you have an older computer, getting a separate sound card allows your computer to handle other things, while the separate sound card handles all the sound. If you have a computer built in the last couple years, you should be fine for starting out with producing. But if you start hearing clipping and unintended distortion while you’re working on your songs, you’ll want to start looking for a sound card.
I produce with Ableton Live along with a couple MIDI devices, and I find my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 to be perfect.
You would need a sound card if you are going to do any recording of instruments or vocals. And you are also going to need some desent speakers. When you produce music with a computer with built in sound card and some pc speakers the sound you are getting is not anywhere near to what it will sound on a real sound system. This can actually affect all the sound choices you make, a bass preset that will be way to booming or even to thin on any other sound system. A song might sound grate on you computer but sound shit on others because the mixing was done on poor speakers.
You can start producing on a laptop using only the built in sound card and speakers, but almost everything you’ve done will need to be reworked later because you won’t get the true sound from the setup.
Get a good sound card and speakers from the start is the best investment you can do.