Hey guys, I'm just frustrated cause my audio interface has broken last night, it simply don't turn on anymore, don't know what happened. It was a Roland Tri-Capture, and I bought it to make vocal recordings in 2013, but since I started to produce electronic music I have used it to plug my headphones (yes, I work on my tracks on headphones, i don't even have monitors to be honest)...

My question is, now I'm just pluging my phones directly on my laptop phones entrance, with the p2 plug (without the p10 adapter that i used to plug on audio interface) and I'm using the asio 4 all driver now, does it will change the quality of my tracks or monitoring anyway?

Thanks in advance!

Ps.Sorry my newbie question but I really don't know what exactly an audio interface is supposed to do, if it changes the quality of the monitoring or these kind of things.

 

Yes it will change your monitoring experience as it have a digital to analog converter usualy not comparable to any built-in sound modul in your PC.

 

Yeah, I was afraid of that, I felt a difference , but I thought it was psycollogical or some volume difference cause i was used to work with my audio interface aways on the same volume. Thanks for the reply, I'll try to get a new audio interface or fix mine.

 

No its not a placebo effect. the digital world restriction is very obvious when you have gears to witness its flaws.

 

The quality of the conversion process is significantly greater with even an inexpensive interface these days. The driver of the card is mostly what is important in my opinion so that the unit remains stable and won't keep crashing, that and that there is less latency as the tracks begin to pile up.

 

Remind me of someones experience not so long ago

 

The quality of your actual tracks and what they sound like played through your headphones (or whatever) are two different things.

Your mixed track will sound different on every single amplifier and speaker combination it gets played on. But the track itself is the same. The information in your final track never changes but it will sound different on every different amp and speaker.

But as you have to use an amp and speaker to make your mix in the first place, then yes, the amp and speaker you use to listen to it (as you are mixing) will effect the mix you make. And whatever mix you make, it will subsequently sound different on every single amp and speaker combo that it is played through.

Plus, before the amplifier you need a digital to analogue converter - and some of those cost $000s and some cost $10.

The ones in laptops and on motherboards are very cheap - circa $10

Using onboard sound (laptop, etc) usually means the CPU has to do more - so an external soundcard (an audio interface) takes some of the weight off the CPU, freeing it up for VSTs and making music.

There are a pile of interfaces available at $100-$200

It's not essential but......it's surely better in every way than using onboard stuff? And if you upgrade the PC then you just plug in the audio again.

 

you dont need one, if it sounds great being produced on a shitty system it will sound great on a shitty playback system
likely to sound shit on a good system


it will of course sound way better even with a cheap interface

Regarding the discussion here about the price of components
Digital converters in the most expensive audio interface cost about <20$
Usually its the capacitors that are not as good, as well as many other important juicers

There are some really cheap audiointerfaces around if you dig into the used market


Heck, if you rub the lotion on its skin you might get one for free

 

Ha! It turned out not to have been the driver, but rather my human error and the consequence of my scrambled brain scrambling the brain of the brains of the operation, my poor hard driven computer. RME rocks, it is I who has rocks in his head.

 

Understood, I just thought that the audio interface would interfere with the track export when it was pluged while exporting to WAV or MP3. So it has nothing to do with the exporting process right?

Btw, yeah, I'm feeling strange while producing without my external soundcard, It feel less dimensional, more narrow, don't know how to explain...

 

Correct. You can export audio from a DAW without an audio interface being present at all. You just can't listen to it!

Your track is all the 0s and 1s that comprise it. It is totally separate from whatever hardware you use to listen to it. The DAW exports 0s and 1s totally independent of the audio hardware.

But you have to use hardware to listen to it to make the mix - so the mix *is* dependent on the hardware - but only in so far as it has to come out of a speaker and go into your ears before you move a dial, to find the sound you want, whatever. It will sound a bit different played on every single amp/speaker combo - so your mix is dependent on your listening (and the hardware making the sound. And the environment......)

BTW, everything I have ever mixed on headphones sounds awful on a regular stereo system. Have you tried your own stuff on other equipment?

 

I didn't read a single word except for the title and my answer is: YES

 

Thats just like a photographer asking "My camera broke, should I buy another one? Or, just use my phone?"
Sure, it will work but.....

 

Yes.

 

Since You ask that question, it is obvious that You don`t have much experience with audio recording and/or processing, so here a few simple examples that should make thing a bit clearer:

1. You play a Guitar and want to use all the amp simulations available on a PC, when You are playing...
- In this case You need an ASIO interface, because the latency would make it impossible to play using a standard built in audio card.

2. You want just to mix a few tracks...
- In this case You could use the built in audio card, but of course, using an ASIO card would make things much easier, faster, with a better ADA conversion.

3. You play a MIDI Keyboard, and want to use all the Kontakt instruments
- Here again You need an ASIO interface, that will aloud You to play with acceptable latencies ... with the built in audio card and ASIO4ALL drivers You could get by, but the limitations are just too "annoying"

So, to recap:
- You can try all the goodies that the digital audio thing has to offer, also without an ASIO interface, but just to take a quick look and see if that "game" could help Your creativity.
But if You want to play all the instruments, amps, use all the effects, record more tracks simultaneously, than a few hundred $ low latency interface is the most important part of Your rig.


You should reformulate Your question now to: "What ASIO interface do I need for the Job I want to do with it"

You must define Your needs:
- do I need more than 2 inputs
- do I need Hi-Z inputs or Line inputs
- do I need preamps built in the interface
- do I need MIDI inputs
- does my PC meets the minimal requirements to process audio
a bare minimum for playing around is a Core 2 Duo clocked to 3.5 - 4.0 (E7600, E8500, E8600 comes to mind), with 4 - 8 Gb at least 800 Mhz DDR2 RAM (Better 1066 Mhz or DDR3 1333). That should do for a bedroom musician, with of course a ASIO interface.
for serious work You are best set with a good i7 and 16 and up RAM and few fast HD.

 

I know that mixing and mastering by headphones are not the best option but it's the only option I have at the moment, I live with my parents and I can't even listen to music on speakers without then asking to turn the music off...

 

Good analogy, I will try to get a new soundcard tomorrow, even because I'm feeling strange while producing since my soundcard broke...

 

haha

Everyone lucky enough to have parents has been there. :D

I live alone in a caravan, in a field of sheep on a desolate hillside. The freedom to play (or make) music when I want is enormous. If you're sensitive enough to want to make music, likely your home environment is important too. Good luck!

 

Given your setup, what you're doing (no recording and mixing on headphones), and the money you have, an audio interface would be a complete waste of money.

The best thing you could do with your setup is get a second headphones. Some headphones are good for their neutrality, others are good for details and transient response (punch). Others for the precise low end. Others for dynamics.
There is absolutely no all-in-one headphones around there. The cirrus logic chip in your computer will provide an honourable sound to your headphones. Having two different headphones to compare will give you a much much better result and also progress (because you'll start mxing with one, swith to the second one and see how different it is).

 

Hmmm......but an external interface uses less CPU and can be carried over into scenario with amp and speakers, not just headphones.

True, if money is tight (isn't it always) don't bother.