Trying to figure out which external sound card to get

[Treemaculate]

So basically I perform in a live electronic ensemble wherein we do a large amount of pre-recorded material and a large amount of improvisation. Recently I have noticed that my buffer is sometimes getting pretty high up (~60%) and has had a quick pause in sound a couple of times. Obviously this is something I wish to avoid so I'm looking at getting an external sound card. I have a 13" Macbook Pro with 2.53 gHz and I'm looking for something that will allow me to have a low buffer and low latency, but won't break my bank. I'm looking to spend no more than $100, but obviously if that is not possible, I'll have to put a bit more money into it.

Thanks for any and all help!

[darkmelody]

I am certainly far from an expert, but if by "buffer" you mean Live's CPU meter is around 60% then an external soundcard is not going to help you.

First, check your version, 8.1 gave my computer serious issues.
Second, "freeze" any tracks which you don't need to change live.
also, turn off any LFO, type stuff you are not really using.

Third, it really depends what you are looking for in a soundcard regarding ins and outs. I have just ordered this

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/ ... kontrol-1/

Which thanks to the Aussie Dollar is a great deal ATM.

For under 100, you are probably best off buying second hand
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lexicon-Lambda-USB- ... 2eb08a9948

looks like a reasonable buy....

hope it helps somewhat

As I said, it really depends what you need it for and, the interface itself won't lower your CPU load.

[Treemaculate]

I am certainly far from an expert, but if by "buffer" you mean Live's CPU meter is around 60% then an external soundcard is not going to help you.

First, check your version, 8.1 gave my computer serious issues.
Second, "freeze" any tracks which you don't need to change live.
also, turn off any LFO, type stuff you are not really using.

Third, it really depends what you are looking for in a soundcard regarding ins and outs. I have just ordered this

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/ ... kontrol-1/

Which thanks to the Aussie Dollar is a great deal ATM.

For under 100, you are probably best off buying second hand
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lexicon-Lambda-USB- ... 2eb08a9948

looks like a reasonable buy....

hope it helps somewhat

As I said, it really depends what you need it for and, the interface itself won't lower your CPU load.

Hmm. I guess I assumed that the CPU load was connected. I'll have to look at how to lower my CPU load.

[darkmelody]

what version of Live are you running? A MBP 2.53 ghz should run it pretty comfortably

[Treemaculate]

what version of Live are you running? A MBP 2.53 ghz should run it pretty comfortably

I've been running 8.1.4 but will be upgrading to 8.2 once I get back to my home computer. I run a lot of plugins for VSTs and when I have pre-loaded loops (I don't really use wavs, mostly midi tracks because I alter a lot of them during the show), I tend to get very high CPU readings which, like I said, can occasionally result in the sound cutting out for a millisecond (especially on scene switches, but again, this is only sometimes). I have no other programs open while I'm running Ableton for gigs. Anything I can do to increase CPU performance or lower Ableton's CPU usage?

[Pitch Black]

what version of Live are you running? A MBP 2.53 ghz should run it pretty comfortably

I've been running 8.1.4 but will be upgrading to 8.2 once I get back to my home computer. I run a lot of plugins for VSTs and when I have pre-loaded loops (I don't really use wavs, mostly midi tracks because I alter a lot of them during the show), I tend to get very high CPU readings which, like I said, can occasionally result in the sound cutting out for a millisecond (especially on scene switches, but again, this is only sometimes). I have no other programs open while I'm running Ableton for gigs. Anything I can do to increase CPU performance or lower Ableton's CPU usage?

I would suggest that the bottleneck might be more in your CPU usage of live. Try reducing the size of your liveset first (track by track, just to test). In my experience, I could get a reliable maximum of what my computer/software/hardware combo could do.

Once I got down below 110 tracks & about 250 scenes, scene-change glitching went reliably away. Running happily at 60-70% Live CPU meter, nominal level + peaks.

I would suggest that the brief cutouts on changing scenes are possibly more due to your loading of Live, rather than how your computer is talking to it's sound card, IMHO.

The only difference I would say is my liveset is loaded towards audio clips and Sampler/Simplers - and not virtual instruments, so your load state could be different. I hate to say try chopping down your liveset!! but audio playback is usually such a smaller load than virtual instruments... you might find printing some elements to audio will work, and still allow for spontaneity.

HTH

[darkmelody]

Also, sounds stupid but seems to work,

turn off airport.