Sorry for the super noob question. Im looking at starting to learn finger drumming and was wondering what the point of an audio interface is? I was leaning towards the Xjam based off the reccs here, price and form factor. Seems like a great controller to get my feet wet but If im using headphones and not studio monitors, what does the audio interface do?
Thanks so much in advance!
In my experience, when you do not use an audio interface, you will be working with audible latency and I think that over time this will have an impact on your playing. Our brains can adapt to delays and adjust how we play, but the question is do you want to train your brain to play with an adjusted sense of time or do you just want your timing to be spot on?
That said, you might be able to use your onboard sound with reasonable results if you have a fast computer like a modern Macbook. I personally can hear a difference between my dedicated audio interface and my 2020 Macbook, so I still would not wholeheartedly recommend you doing this!
Ok, the the interface is going to lower the latency of the sound coming out, that makes sence.
I may switch up my approach to start if that is the case. I travel a lot for work. Bare minimum, every other week I am out of town. That being said, maybe I will look at something with on board sound to start. That way I am not confined to be able to play only when Im at home and in front of a bunch of gear. Maybe for this use case, I should start with the Yamaha FGDP-50 so I really have the chance to dive in no matter where I am, and if that goes well, I can grab an audio interface.
Thanks for all the help, Robert!
An FGDP is a good choice if you just want to get started, practice regularly and don’t want top deal with all the hassle. You can get a good baseline going with that. Over time you might feel you need pads that respond better to softer touches maybe, but it could also just serve you well and you might find you won’t need anything else.
The $150 FGDP-30 with 2 simple drum kit presets would actually be enough for a long time.