Originally Posted By: Guitarhacker
The interface is MORE than just a door or gateway into the computer. A good interface will make a world of difference and a crappy one will be a huge stumbling block to the fastest computer. If all the interface did was pass date through to the computer after converting the audio to digital, any interface would work as well as the next one. But that is not the case. The interface/soundcard actually does a huge amount of processing before the digital data goes elsewhere in the computer.... such as to the DAW software. The same thing applies to out-going data.


True in every way Herb, but it is NOT critical to rendering, and that is his concern. Rendering is just math and bytes, not actual sound. After it is rendered, then it becomes sound. You literally can render with NO sound hardware. You just can't listen to what you rendered. A blind guy can paint. He just can't see his work. A deaf computer can render. It just can't "hear". (Though it worked out okay for Beethoven...)