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Forums - Music techology
Subject: Latency and PC/MIDI/CARD/USB
Original Message Date: 19-Dec-03 @ 04:20 PM - Latency and PC/MIDI/CARD/USB
Ok, here goes the long winded question about latency issues and the PC. First, here is my system:
1. Computer: PC with an AMD 1.1Ghz board, 512 MG ram, Win XP, a inexpensive Mad Dog sound card.
2. Hardware: USB Midiman 2x2, E-MU XK-6 controller keyboard, Triton Rack
3. Software: Reason
Now, here are my questions regarding latency from the pc and midi (the guys at my local music store don't seem to agree or even be correct on some of these issues).
I am having a serious latency problem triggering the sounds in Reason from my keyboard. I have changed latency settings etc., but can only get down to about 40ms. I don't know the best solution, so I am asking you smart people for help.
At first, I thought it may be my USB midi connection, since USB be is fairly slow. Then I realized there are too many USB midi products for this to be the issue or they wouldn't make them. Now I have concluded it is either a sound card or processor speed problem or both. Would a better PCI sound card such as M-Audio solve this or a Hardware /Firewire system like MOTU 828. Does Firewire work well, compared to a good PCI audio card? And do the dedicated PCI audio cards handle all or most of the audio processing or is my CPU taking the brunt of the power hit?
I am planning on buying Cakewalk Sonar 3 as my main sequencer/audio program (using Rewire to connect Reason). I know the audiocard is a major culprit. But I don't know that just upgrading the card will solve my problem and I would hate to shell out the money for a card or hardware and not have the problem go away.
I won't be really be using this set-up to do any serious multi-track HD recording, so I don't think my HD speed should be an issue for now (or am I wrong about that?). I am mainly looking to sequence the audio and midi from my hardware and softsynths in Reason, etc. I am also looking for a better mixer, and have read that the MOTU 828 can handle that as well (for my computer audio), but am not sure that Firewire is the way to go.
Do you know of any good solutions? Firewire based, Audiocard based. Do I need a faster CPU?
Sorry for soooo many questions, but I want to get this straight once and for all.
I look forward to your replies, as I have yet to find the definitive answers to some of these questions.
Thanks in advance.
Headkick
1. Computer: PC with an AMD 1.1Ghz board, 512 MG ram, Win XP, a inexpensive Mad Dog sound card.
2. Hardware: USB Midiman 2x2, E-MU XK-6 controller keyboard, Triton Rack
3. Software: Reason
Now, here are my questions regarding latency from the pc and midi (the guys at my local music store don't seem to agree or even be correct on some of these issues).
I am having a serious latency problem triggering the sounds in Reason from my keyboard. I have changed latency settings etc., but can only get down to about 40ms. I don't know the best solution, so I am asking you smart people for help.
At first, I thought it may be my USB midi connection, since USB be is fairly slow. Then I realized there are too many USB midi products for this to be the issue or they wouldn't make them. Now I have concluded it is either a sound card or processor speed problem or both. Would a better PCI sound card such as M-Audio solve this or a Hardware /Firewire system like MOTU 828. Does Firewire work well, compared to a good PCI audio card? And do the dedicated PCI audio cards handle all or most of the audio processing or is my CPU taking the brunt of the power hit?
I am planning on buying Cakewalk Sonar 3 as my main sequencer/audio program (using Rewire to connect Reason). I know the audiocard is a major culprit. But I don't know that just upgrading the card will solve my problem and I would hate to shell out the money for a card or hardware and not have the problem go away.
I won't be really be using this set-up to do any serious multi-track HD recording, so I don't think my HD speed should be an issue for now (or am I wrong about that?). I am mainly looking to sequence the audio and midi from my hardware and softsynths in Reason, etc. I am also looking for a better mixer, and have read that the MOTU 828 can handle that as well (for my computer audio), but am not sure that Firewire is the way to go.
Do you know of any good solutions? Firewire based, Audiocard based. Do I need a faster CPU?
Sorry for soooo many questions, but I want to get this straight once and for all.
I look forward to your replies, as I have yet to find the definitive answers to some of these questions.
Thanks in advance.
Headkick
Message 11/12 19-Dec-03 @ 10:45 PM - RE: Latency and PC/MIDI/CARD/USB
at work, we regularly stream up to 64 tracks of 24bit/96k audio from a firewire drive (if it's defragged), so the format is definitely up to the task of audio recording.
Message 12/12 20-Dec-03 @ 12:29 AM - RE: Latency and PC/MIDI/CARD/USB
I'm going to add my problem to this instead of starting a new thread. I would like to try using softsynths using a keyboard (Oxygen?) with my laptop, a 600mHz PIII.
As soon as a part is recorded to a MIDI track in Cubase I'll be rendering it to audio so I won't have a lot of synths running at the same time and I'm rather minimalist so 16 tracks (8 stereo) will be the max. My latency using sofsynths with the US428 is abysmal but I don't want to blow the farm on another interface; stereo, 16 bit, 44.1 is all I need. I have USB1 integrated into the lappy and an Orange Firewire cardbus adapter so I can go either way. What are my options if any? I'd like to keep the price around $200.00US.
I can't really afford another lappy so if that's the issue I'll stick with actually writing the music in Cubase as opposed to performing it on a keyboard. I'm not saying that's a bad thing because it forced me to think differently and use an entirely new (for me) approach on my last four pieces but I would like to take what I learned from that and apply it using a keyboard. It may not work for all I know, I may fall back into the same habits and end up returning what ever interface or interface/keyboard I try, but I'd like to give it a shot.
As soon as a part is recorded to a MIDI track in Cubase I'll be rendering it to audio so I won't have a lot of synths running at the same time and I'm rather minimalist so 16 tracks (8 stereo) will be the max. My latency using sofsynths with the US428 is abysmal but I don't want to blow the farm on another interface; stereo, 16 bit, 44.1 is all I need. I have USB1 integrated into the lappy and an Orange Firewire cardbus adapter so I can go either way. What are my options if any? I'd like to keep the price around $200.00US.
I can't really afford another lappy so if that's the issue I'll stick with actually writing the music in Cubase as opposed to performing it on a keyboard. I'm not saying that's a bad thing because it forced me to think differently and use an entirely new (for me) approach on my last four pieces but I would like to take what I learned from that and apply it using a keyboard. It may not work for all I know, I may fall back into the same habits and end up returning what ever interface or interface/keyboard I try, but I'd like to give it a shot.
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