Onboard audio, 5.1 - 7.1, or sound card

[dhofman]

I need to know if I even need a sound card with a new computer.
All I need is to download Itunes, listen to them & burn to CD.
Does a sound card improve the quality of the sound burned to CD?
I suspect this is a dumb question, but then again it's me asking.
Thanks DH

 

[treefrog07]

If you don't like the quality of the on-board sound, then add a separate card. It has no effect on the quality of the sound burned onto a cd - the quality of the ripping and burning software, and its settings sets the quality of the sound burned to the cd. E.g., 320kbps is about as high as you can do, while many rip and burn @192kbps. The higher the kbps, the better the quality, and the larger the output files (fewer tracks per disk).

 

[dhofman]

Thanks, this helps me.
One more question please.
Intergrated 5.1 vs. 7.1 does not matter much if I have only two simple spreakers? Correct.