Is an audio interface really necessary?

How can I hear my track play back through my laptop speakers when I need to change my audio input to my audio interface?

• I'm using the M-Audio track plus. In order to plug my synth into the audio interface to record in Ableton, I need to change my Audio Preferences in Ableton to have my input and output be the M-Audio interface. However, when I do this I can't hear the click track played through my computer or even my audio tracks. In order to hear my audio tracks I have to change my sound output to my laptop's speakers. How do I record audio into my interface while being able to hear the click track and music through my computer?

• Answer:

  Ideally, you should have EXTERNAL studio montiors/headphones which connect to your interface, rather than your using your internal computer speakers. The digital to analog conversion as well as the amplification on your interface will be superior to that of your computer. Its an easy fix to connect any headphones/speakers to the outputs of your interface. If this is not an option, you'll have to set the Input to the M-Audio interface, but set the output to your normal computer's audio driver in Ableton.