LinuxMusicians

On windows "they" said you need an audio interface for the low latency drivers etc, but on linux do you really need an audio interface? What actually does it do?

lyth wrote:On windows "they" said you need an audio interface for the low latency drivers etc, but on linux do you really need an audio interface? What actually does it do?

I'm not sure what exactly you are referring to. Generally, "audio interface" is just a fancy word for "sound card", but one designed for music rather than video game sound effects. To get started, there's nothing wrong with using your computers' built-in sound card, but be aware you might run into its limitations (both in sound quality and latency capabilities) at some point.

Someone please fix the topic title. It's bad for searches.

Now, follow this algorithm:

Are you going to record audio with microphones and/or external instruments?

Yes.
--> You need an audio interface.

No, just MIDI sequences and software instruments (plugins).
--> You don't need an audio interface. Having one might be better as stated by Raboof. But you can mostly do without it.

Yeh you can definitely get started without one. I just used my onboard soundcard for months. But it had crap latency and I couldn't play stuff in by hand without it being really sloppy because of it. Once you find yourself needing any of the following - it's time to buy an audio interface: Headphones that require a good pre-amp (though you can just buy a dedicated pre-amp), studio monitors (speakers), mics/instruments that use XLR connections, mics/instruments that require phantom power or need a pre-amp, recording multiple inputs at once, having a lower noise floor & generally cleaner recordings, lower latency, potentially higher sample rates and bit depths, classic midi ports + more..