Audio is an essential part of the multimedia ecosystem. Manufacturers were slow to understand: For years, the integrated sound card was practically the lowest-quality component in the entire system . Little by little this section was pampering itself in parallel to the graphics cards and, today, we can enjoy medium-high performance on practically any PC or laptop ..
But what do we call "medium-high performance"? For almost three decades, any PC or laptop tower has integrated its own audio card, connected to one of the PCI buses on the motherboard. But many times we need more outputs, less latency; higher performance. In short, we need to change the serial card or buy an external one. There's even a hybrid option: dedicated internal card and external controller. Let's see the pros and cons of each one.
Sound card or audio interface?
First we must know what we can do with each system, in order to adopt one or another measure..
- Multimedia: with an internal audio card we can do practically anything related to the multimedia world. Play music, video, edit simple jobs - we depend on the internal clock and RAM of the processor, not the audio card -, record a podcast , make and receive videoconferences, play video games and, in general, the common use of a computer .
- Professional recording: to record a musical instrument it is practically essential to have an external audio interface. Not because we cannot record a guitar or a bass from the input channel of a laptop, we would only have to use an adapter-converter from a 3.5mm mini jack to a 6.35mm female Jack connector.
An external interface gives us many inputs and outputs and, therefore, many more options: MIDI, phantom , multitrack recording, and so on. It allows you to do all of the above by adding low latency and high performance channels, thanks to its converters , and greater driver compatibility . Monitoring a normal battery requires between 4 and 8 mics. But by the time we get to this point, we will need more than just a sound card.
- Production and mastering: if we focus on a middle ground, then we should not think so much about 'audio interface' and yes about 'sound card'. We are not going to create music, but edit it. Ditto if it is the case of video or podcasting . For this particular, it is best to use an internal card with good finishes and professional performance, in line with the rest of the board.
Before buying anything, we must take into account two key issues: the first is that the bulk of PC users are not professionally focused on audio production. And this leads us to the second: meet your team. It is essential to know the possibilities of our own system . Maybe we do not need anything beyond and we make the mistake of buying something that we are not going to exploit enough..
Some preliminary considerations
Studying the possibilities leads us to know our system in depth. And the truth is that computer equipment is increasingly better prepared, not only in terms of multimedia reproduction, but also offering the possibility of recording or editing audio without having to go through the cashier once again .
If we therefore take the most obvious path and focus on not buying an external system, we must review the following points:
- Updated BIOS and drivers . All hardware / software drivers must be updated to the latest version. Currently almost any team updates automatically, or by sending us via link to the developer's website. We may even have special instructions attached to improve our digital audio.
- Install Asio4All . In this article we explained its importance: it is a generic driver model compatible with any interface or card. It is not from any official manufacturer but it is perhaps the most versatile tool to avoid latency problems or hardware non-recognition .
Knowing that the composition is increasingly portable, to make simple recordings we would not need much more.
What do current teams include?
It's an old but real phrase: "the limit is set by our creativity." Working with digital sound does not limit our options as much as it might be implied . There are economical and reliable solutions to explore any time of interest in terms of digital creation, be it mixing music, recording voices and editing dialogues, designing samples or doing djing . Options like Stagelight offer all these possibilities and are completely free.
For some time now, Harman International Industries , the world's leading premium audio and video equipment company, has partnered with Lenovo to bring its systems to professional quality audio. For example, the Yoga 3 Pro Notebooks feature a Waves Audio certified 1.5W stereo JBL speaker system. In addition, all equipment includes Dolby Home Theater software , a higher quality standard than a normal AIO.
The new Yoga Tablet 2 Pro convertibles are also not far behind: they include 2 JBL 1.2W speakers, a 5W subwoofer, Dolby system and a Wolfson Master high-performance audio chip. All this results in immersive sound, HiFi quality, and no delay in sound response. Because it is useless to have a good card if the resulting sound does not meet through the speakers.
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But where that premium sound goes one step further is in the all-in-ones. The B50 is a FullHD touch screen that includes 2 JBL speakers with Dolby Home Theater certification of 3W each , without forgetting the connection of headphones. These speakers are slightly larger and perform a notch higher than their little brother.
In relation to what we reviewed about drivers , from the Lenovo Support page, in the first tab, you can access the Drivers and software. Putting the model name in the search box you will find the latest versions available for download. For example, in the case of the Lenovo ideapads Y40 / 50 they include the powerful Dolby Advanced Audio V2 driver , which can be updated from here.
Interfaces at popular prices
If, once we have weighed our options, we want to record but we cannot afford the prices of a pro audio interface - because, in our case, we simply want to take a few first steps and edit simple things - the ideal is to buy an inexpensive external controller, looking for an intermediate point in relation to usability / price.
Behringer has its U-Phoria series that allows recording, for less than 50 euros, at 16bit and 48kHz quality. It includes 2 inputs and 2 outputs, a microphone preamp with 48V phantom power, and signal and clip indicators. Just enough for an amateur recording .
M-Audio is also a leader in terms of simple and effective interfaces: the M-Track series, specifically the MkII, has superior performance, allowing 24-bit / 48kHz recording, with zero-latency audio monitoring , from the LED frontal. essential to know if we are distorting or limiting the input signal.
And perhaps Focusrite would complete the range of inexpensive interfaces - there would be many more, like the magnificent Native Instruments Traktor Audio 2 MK2. Focusrite's Scarlett series includes premium components in mini rigs. Its base product, the 'Scarlett Solo', records up to 96 kHz and converts to 24 bits. In addition, its microphone preamplifier is very prestigious, and includes 2 gain knobs with signal indicators, to be able to alter the volume of the line in real time.