Generally, internal models are less expensive than external ones, as internal sound cards do not require metal or plastic housing. They provide easy access to making these connections, as it can be placed right on your desk.Īnother thing to consider in choosing your sound device is the price range. External devices for sound often have digital input/output jacks, MIDI keyboards and RCA. The main reason for this is true to all devices that all electrical components are subject to interference.Ĭompared to external sound cards, internal sound cards have fewer connectivity options because of the limited space provided at the back of the device. This means that for devices with lower noise floor, you would actually need to raise the volume of the speaker before any hissing sounds can be heard.
Based on tests conducted using spectrum analyzers, internal devices have higher noise floor than external sound card. The quality of a sound device is however dependent to its hardware rather than on the sound device.
You can minimize this latency by choosing an external device which makes use of FireWire audio interface or a high-speed USB 2.0.
High latency can cause instrumental and vocal tracks to be improperly align during a music recording. Be aware that when purchasing an external sound device, there is some latency associated with this kind of sound card, since a device on cable is actually further way from your computer processor than a device located just inside the computer itself.