# Purpose Of An Audio Interface



## Andrew Qualls (Jan 15, 2018)

Ok so a lot of people are telling me that I should have an audio interface when I am making virtual orchestral music, one thing I would like to know is if it will improve the quality of exported projects or just the sound overall such as this little thing I did here , or is it purposed just to help my CPU usage to be better preserved? I have hesitated to get one and depending on the answer I might just do so, also please give me some links for recommendations thank you.


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## Jdiggity1 (Jan 15, 2018)

it doesn't affect exported audio or fidelity.
It improves performance, allowing your system to handle more processes and audio tasks.
This is especially true with Windows systems, less necessary for Macs.


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## Piano Pete (Jan 15, 2018)

A Steinberg ur22 or a Focusrite 2i2 or something like that would be perfectly fine for what you are doing.

Aside from the performance things, it also allows you to utilize different speakers more easily than if you tried to use a standard output on your PC. I guess by having some decent speakers it would affect the quality of your exports, but that is purely based on being able to hear things and has nothing to do with the interface affecting a CPU based task.

--Edit--

Maybe when people say, "it will improve the sound of your exports," they are referring to what you would physically be hearing if you had an interface with proper monitors.


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## agarner32 (Jan 15, 2018)

I found this video very helpful. It's not specifically about audio interfaces, but it is still good information. At around 22:30 he mentions audio interfaces as being a culprit for poor DAW performance.

CPU Performance vs. Real-Time Performance in DAW


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## Virtual Virgin (Jan 15, 2018)

An interface will (ideally) improve your monitoring fidelity and lower the RTL (round trip latency) of your audio signal.
Lowering the latency is especially helpful for VSTis as they stack up because this helps with real-time MIDI control. Once the latency becomes too high, response from your MIDI controller will become very sluggish and unbearable at some point.


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## PaulieDC (Feb 1, 2018)

agarner32 said:


> I found this video very helpful. It's not specifically about audio interfaces, but it is still good information. At around 22:30 he mentions audio interfaces as being a culprit for poor DAW performance.
> 
> CPU Performance vs. Real-Time Performance in DAW



Whoa, this video FINALLY explains buffer and audio issues in a way that I finally GET. It's for us cheeky Windows users, Mac folks probably have less issues with audio due to the nature of the Mac OS anyway. If you run Windows, WATCH THIS. He's wordy at the start but it's worth it.


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