Without a sound card you would not be able to process any audio through your computer. Most, if not all computers / laptops when bought have a sound card installed from the onset. If yours is not fit for your intended purpose outside of basic audio requirements then there are a few things you should consider.

Types of Sound Card

There are a few different types to chose from for example PCI, USB and Firewire.

• PCI sound card go directly into your motherboard which can be a great value for money, very stable yet can only be available for desktop computers.
• USB Interfaces are an external source that plugs directly into a USB port on your machine, whereby for functionality can switch between internal and external sources.
• Firewire Interfaces have a higher rate of data transfer over a long period of time thus allowing better stability if you have a high demand for the interface, for example recording many instruments at once. These would plug in directly to your Firewire port for either a 4 or 6pin format.