whats the best external sound card for live performance

[freesian]

i am in hope of getting started a discussion about, whats the best external firewire sound card, designed for realtime zero latency performance. so i can play guitar and midi keyboard whilst playing and mixing my tracks in ableton.

my live set up at the moment is: native instruments audio kontrol 1
windows vista 32 bit intel dual core laptop
behringer bcr2000
m-audio axiom pro 49
when i use a guitar and keyboard in ableton there is a delay so i lower the latency to get rid of it but then the playback is effected and is way too glitchy. i have been told a firewire sound card can resolve this/ if so whats the best one for not too muchmoney. thats my question and a discussion of this would help me out a lot as i have gig soon and need to buy one quick.



so far the motu ultralite mk3 could be an option:

http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/ultralite-mk3


please help


best firewire sound card for laptop ableton live performance
discuss

[McQ714]

rme fireface 400 if you have to have a firewire interface
rme fireface uc if usb interface is an option
and if you have an express card slot, kraftwerk has been using the rme multiface 2 for years

[mode:masters]

I agree with McQ714, but would also add the MOTU Traveller, MOTU Ultralight and the Focusrite Sapphire Series.

[Atomikat]

+10 for the RME's I've been using a Multiface I with a Macbook Pro,Ableton Live,Guitar Rig 3,FCB1010,UC33e,2 Electribes,an Alesis Micron,a DSI Evolver...everything running at the same time with no problems, and the latency is between 2 and 6 ms.

[samplehead]

RME Fireface UC

(guitarist live looper)

[zalo]

RME

[Pitch Black]

Another vote for RME Fireface400 and Multiface. Great sound, low latency, VERY stable under the worst gig conditions (heat/humidity/vibration), they're built like tanks. 7 year old Multiface still going strong in our live rig despite being chucked by baggage handlers around the world in an unpadded SKB rack for all it's life. FIreface400 had it's front knob smashed off in a drop a couple of years ago, but the unit itself works fine. The included TotalMix software in incredibly useful. Good range of I/O options and connectors. High-end gear all round.

[the girl next door]

rme fireface 400 if you have to have a firewire interface
rme fireface uc if usb interface is an option
and if you have an express card slot, kraftwerk has been using the rme multiface 2 for years

+ 100. I have the Fireface 400 and have never looked back. Its the dogs chod !

[Emissary]

RME RME RME , anything else is pointless

[SubFunk]

another, if you have the money RME vote.

[the girl next door]

Aren't RME a Boxhead company?

[freesian]

great advice everyone. this fireface 400 seems amazing.problem is i have max 400 pounds here. thats not much i know but thats all i have for the moment.

the motu ultralite mk3 seems the bestoption for that price .

any more ideas condisering how much money i got

[rikhyray]

I doubt you will get better results with Motu, even RME which unquestionably is THE interface for Live live, specially guitar playing.
Before buying anything I would suggest test install XP and than decide, fine as general use OS ,Vista is not much suitable for any audio work, if at all requires serious tuning which is much more tricky and complex then tuning of XP (which with you computer you wont even need).
For using Live, any audio live - XP or OSX.
The only interface that I know of, that can run at low latency on (tuned) Vista is Indigo express (0.35 to 0.40 ms).
Note: while working fine on OSX or XP, Audio Kontrol was unusable in Vista - constant spikes (wave like more than spikes) I do not know if that issue was ever fixed by NI. Open any software that makes AK1 active, open task manager and watch performance for a while, see if there are wave like spikes , can range from 15 to 50% (on top of whatever default idle). Test same way without AK1 and you will know if NI fixed it or not.
P.S. RME is probably only interface I would ever consider worth getting second hand,...... if you find one.

[Furland]

Borrow money or sell lesser important equipment then for another +1 on the RME FF400. Rock solid on both WinXP and Mac OSX here! German engineering havw the uppe rhand here!

[jonesonyou]

No No No, to the MOTU on XP, you will run into nothing but problems. I had a MOTU Ultralite, and it was the biggest pain in the ass to get working with xp and only worked in live, I actually moved to the NI AK1 and the latency I find I can run at 3ms on vista and xp. Not sure why you are having problems? I also run external synth into live for performing.