96k recording , whats happening inside the box?

[TechnoCowboy]

Hello.

I've searched around on the forum and have not been able to get an answer for the question below, please excuse my ignorance. Love the forum though!!!! : )

My girlfriend has a m-audio interface in her studio and is recording at 24bit/96k . She brings her music to my studio to do some final mixing with some of my Waves apps. I am still using a MOTU 828 audio interface recording at 24bit/44.1k .My question is does the 96k/44.1k sample rate refer to the monitor output and rendering or just the monitoring.When rendering music it is all done within the computer so why then does the app.(We are using Live) not allow you to record/render your tracks at a higher sampler rate if you don't have a audio interface that supports that sample rate?

Also , I want to buy an audio interface(would love an RME 400 but cannot afford it) that records at 24bit/96k-192k but only need 1 stereo output ( I'm working all within my box) . Can you please recommend some great sounding audio interfaces under $500? Read a thread about a Focusrite saffire but still wasn't sure the best route.

Thanks so much for any help.
Tc

[George Necola]

read this one please:
http://gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php?t=93177

the guy is the master of good conversion

you just need DA-conversion(output) and no inputs??

cheers