Hi Rikki. Yes, it appears the function of the 2nx soundcard (like most all other soundcards these days) is solely for A/D (analog to digital) & D/A (digital to analog) conversion.

In the past, some soundcards had actually INCLUDED a complete set of GM midi sounds right on the card. This was essentially a hardware sound module piggy-backed on the card itself. The advantage of this hardware type configuration is that it didn't use up CPU resources as software driven midi 'sound fonts' do. The other issues with software produced midi sound is recording latency as well as the compromised sound quality. Thankfully, with the advent of faster computer processors & improved soft synth technology, software produced midi instruments are sounding better, but imo, external hardware midi sound modules still outshine software produced midi instruments, even the aforementioned Creative 'sound fonts'. This said, I'm a bit surprised that are no companies offering a complete table of GM/XG instruments on a dedicated PCI card. Anyone have a guess? - Scott