Why do soundcards matter?

[john g]

More exactly, WHEN do they matter? If I record from gigasampler to my harddisk using an old sb pci card, and then burn to CD, will the sound on the CD be any worse? (I know listening from the computer will be very bad, but I\'m not sure whether this would be true of the burned CD played on a good system.)

J.G.

[Sam]

John, for a signal path that stays within the computer (ie GS direct capture -> audio workstation internal mixdown -> burn) the card does not matter for signal quality. If the sound to be recorded comes out of the card\'s analog audio connector, it matters, & it may or may not matter if the sound comes out of the card\'s digital out.