Many musicians beginning their independent music production have to travel down the path of understanding the signal chain: the equipment that gets your sound from the sound source into a recorded media. One of the main parts of the signal chain is the soundcard (when we talk digital music). It has come to my attention that many bedroom musicians still misunderstand the difference between a soundcard and an interface.
The audio interface
Though most will call it a soundcard (for sake of simplicity), an audio interface (or AI) is actually a pre-amp and converter combined into one body. The purpose of an AI is to raise the level of the incoming sound signal from mic level to line level (this is the pre-amp part of the audio interface), and to turn that analog signal into digital bits (this is the converter part of the audio interface). Many audio interfaces also include +48v phantom power (for use with condenser mics) and are usually connected to the computer via USB of Firewire.
The soundcard
A soundcard, on the other hand, is just a converter. It's called a soundcard because that's what it does in a normal household computer: to convert the digital data in the computer to analog sound that comes out the computer speakers. In normal computers, not many people use the soundcard to input sound into the computer, although it can be used for that also.
A converter that sits outside the computer body is often called an external soundcard. But if you explore the various recording equipment available for purchase, you will understand that a converter doesn't always have to be a card (though it often is). High end premium quality converters are often shaped like a box that a recording engineer fits onto his equipment rack.
The difference
By the two explanations above, we can see how a soundcard is different than an audio interface:
1. A soundcard does not have pre-amps. Stand alone converters do one thing: to convert analog to digital data and vice versa.
2. A soundcard is the specialized name for the converter.
3. A soundcard is a converter alone. An audio interface is a converter plus preamps.
I hope this short article can help you better understand the parts of your signal chain.
To your equipment savviness,
Endy
Very interesting read. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI really should start playing bass again... God i miss it lol.
ReplyDeleteI never owned a sound card as I really found no huge benefit.
ReplyDeleteI already knew that but you've done a very good post! Nice!
ReplyDeleteI 'play' the guitar and piano, but very seldom and mostly just for shits and giggles. Informative read
ReplyDeleteNeed something like this to help me out, my setup is so bad right now
ReplyDelete"I hope this short article can help you better understand the parts of your signal chain."
ReplyDeleteIt does, I certainly understand it more, but what I don't understand is why my crappy parts don't work :(
Nice, learned something new today :)
ReplyDeletevery informative :)
ReplyDeletenever knew there was a difference.
ReplyDeletekeeping this in mind next time i have to mess with my sound
ReplyDeletethanks mate, was gonna update my soundcard soon, this should help influence my choice
ReplyDeleteThat was an interesting read, thanks. I wasn't really aware of those differences.
ReplyDeleteGood to inform the masses! Are you an audiophile too?
ReplyDeleteI am, currently using a cheap $50 DAC, with a M-stage amp, and Sennheiser HD650s.
this must be memorized!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info
ReplyDelete