Audio Interfaces: professional hardware for sound input/output

An Audio Interface is the hardware needed to get sound in and out of your computer. It has Digital Audio Converters (DACs) to turn your signals into a digital waveform for editing on the computer and then back again to play back through speakers or headphones. It has drivers that should make the processing work efficiently. It may have mic preamps for microphones or special inputs for line-level or guitar level. The interface may be external (USB/Firewire) or fit into a PCI slot with/without a breakout box. A good audio interface is the starting point for making quality music on your PC or MAC.