Soundcard: Internal or External?

[DorphonDalfir]

At the moment, I'm squirreling away some cash for a new addition to my workspace, a good soundcard. I'm looking at the ESI Maya 44, which I hear is pretty decent.

 

I'm producing on a desktop system, so if I got a laptop at some stage what would I do about a sound card for that? Obviously the Maya would have to stay in my desktop, where most of the sequencing takes place. I'd most probably only use a laptop for live performance or rough composition when I'm away from home, so would an external interface, like the Behringer FCA202, be a better option for a bit extra so I can easily move from desktop to laptop?

 

Will the interface basically achieve the same effect of cleaner sound quality and less latency, whether internal card or external firewire interface, and have roughly the same input/output design?

 

At the moment, I don't think I'll actually be using the card for recording seeing as my music is sample/midi based.

 

One important question though, in terms of sound quality, will I notice a distinct difference when using a better soundcard? At the moment I'm using the onboard Nforce sound that came with my Asus K8N-E Deulux motherboard, which sounds decent, but has a latency of around 31ms. Will the only different in sound I notice be regarding less distortion/crackling from overruns, seeing as the latency can be lower or will there just be a general higher quality to sounds?

 

With using a firewire interface, do I simply connect that to my system for a somewhat instant upgrade in sound quality and processing?

 

Using the Behringer (http://www.soundz.co.za/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=BEFCA202) as an example, do I simply hook up the interface to my system with firewire? I take it MIDI controller stays in the same USB slot it's in now and doesn't connect through the interface at all.

 

Then do I esentially connect all speakers to the interface's outputs rather than the current "back-of-the-PC" line-out? (Obviously at the moment my speakers are connected to that line-out, and I'll switch between those and headphones depending on what I'm listening through.)

 

Like, would I not have anything sound related connected to the current soundcard itself? If I were playing live now, I'd connect my PC to the mixer, which in turn is hooked up to speakers.

 

With an audio interface, would I have a connection straight from its output (Interface out to mixer In) to a mixer/speakers, rather than PC output to Interface Input then Interface Output to Mixer Input?

 

My speakers/'phones connect to my PC now with a mini-stereo input, while it seems the Behringer has a L and R input, so would I need to use a Y-splitter if I wanted to connect - say - my mini-stereo (or any speaker system with a mini-stereo jack)speakers to it?

 

I'm guessing the level dial on the front of the interface is for the headphone level, so I can essentially listen to different sounds (like route a single synth to the headphones so I can audition it without its sound being played through the main mix) than what's going through the main output?

 

Or do I have everything wrong?