Help for newbie
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Posted on Aug 03, 2009 06:29 pm
Quasicampus
Member Since: Aug 03, 2009
I'm new to home recording. Currently I'm dealing with 117ms of latency so I can't monitor and record at the same time, the lag is insane. I can only imagine what my tone sounds like when I'm playing. Would a USB audio interface solve this problem? Something cheap like Behringer's 2 input thingy? I only need 1 for my guitar and 1 for my keyboard. Thanks for any help rendered.
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Aug 03, 2009 08:24 pm I'll assume your using the built in sound chip then by your post. And yes, that is a lot of latency.
As for the Behringer interface, well I'll simply state you get what you pay for. If you do a search through the forums here you will find way too many post's with user's having problems with that and some other cheap interface units. AS welel you will need to realize that with that interface you will need some kind of mixer or dedicated pre amp set up to allow for decent input level when recording.
You might be much better served to look into something from M-Audio or Line 6 as they both have very affordable and stable USB audio interfaces. And are much easier to install and get working then the Behringer unit or others like it.
Aug 03, 2009 09:15 pm Thank you so much for help. I'll look into it.
cruxTypo SzarMember
Since: Jul 04, 2002
Aug 04, 2009 01:43 am Dont they have the ASIO4ALL driver? i dont know teh specifics but its a driver thats suppose to work for all soundcards that is optimized for work like this... try hunting it down as im not totally sure
most audio interfaces nowadays, like the Focusrite Sapphire units and the Line 6 units have direct monitoring capabilities which will take this factor totally out of the equation.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Aug 04, 2009 05:00 pm ASIO4ALL will only work with a sound card that has a WDM driver as it needs the WDM driver in order to make the ASIO emulation work. It really is only using the WDM driver but kindof turbo charges it to work like and ASIO driver.
Aug 05, 2009 01:50 am So could someone perhaps be kind enough to tell me what exactly an audio interface does? What it does to reduce the latency.
Because I still don't really understand how it could reduce latency as it's still plugged into the soundcard or pc. Wouldn't adding another device between the pc and my instrument increase the latency?
HuePinnipedal Czar (: 3= Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004
Aug 05, 2009 09:22 am It depends on what your computer is capeable of, as well as what your soundcard/interface is capeable of. Adding a 'pro-quality' soundcard, even an 'outboard' one, will deffinately be produce better results than anything an onboard one can offer. They are afterall, made to do the specific job of 'reading' to the audio that already is recorded, while 'writing' the audio that is being recorded. Other factors such as your FSB-speed, hard drive speed, and of course your processor and motherboard capeablities, will all play their part to make things work smoothly.
Just for your reference, a good sound card will get you as low as 2ms of latencey. My three together run around 7ms, without the use of ASIO drivers, but Sonar compensates for this nicely. : )
Aug 05, 2009 03:32 pm So let me see if I got this right, b4 i spend $$ to get a audio interface, I shd first get a decent soundcard for recording?
I'm using an old soundblaster live card. my 117ms of latency will still be there even if i buy a audio interface rite?
Aug 05, 2009 03:33 pm sound card and audio interface are different names for the same thing.
Aug 05, 2009 03:35 pm Oh ok, thank you very much. 100% clear now. Help is great here. Really appreciate it.
Aug 05, 2009 03:36 pm Awesome, glad you like our little home on the web :-)
