Choosing the Best Sound Solution

for your Custom PC

There are several options available to you, namely:-

Integrated Sound - all the motherboards we use have very good sound capture & reproduction capabilities built into them negating the need to add a sound card in most cases. 

What are the drawbacks of integrated sound?  Well the sound has to be processed by the CPU instead of dedicated chips on a separate sound card.  This can cause a reduction in CPU speed or worse still, a slight sound distortion during high CPU activity (this is very rare I hasten to add!).  Take a look at the motherboard specification you are going to be using to determine whether integrated sound will be an option worth considering;  it will confirm the speaker support and everything.

PCI Sound Card - these come in a couple of formats, those that use the traditional PCI slots found on the motherboard and those that use the PCI Express Format.  When using a sound card the Integrated sound on the motherboard will be disabled, freeing the processor to focus on mission critical calculations.

Sound reproduction is likely to be crisper and many other features will often be bundled with the card  via specialist software.  Occasionally the units come with an integrated front panel which allows quick acces to important functions whilst and simpligfies the connection of Microphones and other music equipment.  The PCI Sound card tends to be the domain of the gamer.

Break-Out Boxes - are the last alternative and are normally connected to the PC via USB or Firwire ports.  These have good sound reproduction, remove the strain from the CPU again, but more importantly, allow musicians to access additional control functionality, connect instruments easily etc.

The Musicians Range is complex and expensive.  Its important to get the right balance.  Full details regarding M-Audio etc are available on request.

Music Terminology & Additional Information:-

Glossary

Wikipedia

Creative Sound Cards