Low Latency Soundcards

3dot... · Post by **3dot...** » Sat Jan 16, 2010 1:56 pm

zalo wrote:unless you are dealing with line level devices, you are going to need a preamp to convert them to line level

things like guitars and mics do not operate at line level volumes

these things need a preamp in the chain to deliver proper quality audio signals to the sound card

out of all three of the options, the lowest final cost soundcard that will provide you with a nice mix of options would be the Fireface400/UC

for a multiface2 with express card is currently 1150 but you cant plug a mic or a guitar directly into it, if you want to do that you will have to buy a preamp which will be another 150-300 dollars to get a decent quality SINGLE channel preamp

250-500 for a DUAL channel preamp

again, i bought my FF400 for 1250, which includes 2 mic pres, 2 Hi-Z inputs and firewire interface

if you are just going to be pumping synths and samplers into live during your set then you will probably be fine with the multiface2 (the digiface is probably not for you) but if you are planning on having a mic on stage that gets routed into live your best bet would most likely be the Fireface400/UC

multifaceII is ideal if you have a small format mixer in your rig as well...
like the Mackie vlz1202..(300$ new)
then you have mic pres and everything..

I do agree it's quite the cost... but well worth it if you're ..ehm..
'serious'...

BoxDJ · Post by **BoxDJ** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:35 am

Dumb question but, how do you connect the Multiface to your computer? Is it firewire, usb?

**EDIT**

Never mind, already found the answer. Another question though, for fairly fast keyboard playing and drum machine playing, what amount of latency is usually acceptable?

**EDIT2**

I think I'm going to go with the Ultralite because thats what I can afford for now so I can make for more equipment purchases this year. Has anyone had any bad experiences with MOTU though?

zalo · Post by **zalo** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 5:45 am

BoxDJ wrote:Dumb question but, how do you connect the Multiface to your computer? Is it firewire, usb?

**EDIT**

Never mind, already found the answer. Another question though, for fairly fast keyboard playing and drum machine playing, what amount of latency is usually acceptable?

**EDIT2**

I think I'm going to go with the Ultralite because thats what I can afford for now so I can make for more equipment purchases this year. Has anyone had any bad experiences with MOTU though?

word on the street is that the windows drivers from MOTU are crap, other than that ive heard good things

and to answer the latency question, keyboardists can usually deal with higher latency than guitarists or singers

guitarists and singers usually can handle 10-15 ms round trip pretty well (thats like 128-192 samples at 44.1khz)

3dot... · Post by **3dot...** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:29 am

zalo wrote: word on the street is that the windows drivers from MOTU are crap, other than that ive heard good things

WRONG. I have a MOTU 24i/o on a windows computer for 4 years now..
only time I needed to reinstall the driver is when I moved to win7...
very stable.
about the firewire...depends on the chipset you have in you computer...
but ultraliteMk3 has usb as well..

ekwipt · Post by **ekwipt** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:42 am

forget firewire the RME Fireface UC has lower latencies than the 400

zalo · Post by **zalo** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:05 am

3dot... wrote:
zalo wrote:word on the street is that the windows drivers from MOTU are crap, other than that ive heard good things
WRONG. I have a MOTU 24i/o on a windows computer for 4 years now..
only time I needed to reinstall the driver is when I moved to win7...
very stable.
about the firewire...depends on the chipset you have in you computer...
but ultraliteMk3 has usb as well..

woah, i prefaced my statement with "word on the street"

i have read a fair number of posts about problems with motu and windows drivers

im glad that you havent had the same problems as others but that doesnt mean people arent having problems

i havent had live 8 crash on me ever and i purchased it the week it was released, but im not going to tell people they are wrong when they post that its unstable

11olsen · Post by **11olsen** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 9:03 am

BoxDJ wrote:Dumb question but, how do you connect the Multiface to your computer? Is it firewire, usb?

**EDIT**

Never mind, already found the answer. Another question though, for fairly fast keyboard playing and drum machine playing, what amount of latency is usually acceptable?

**EDIT2**

I think I'm going to go with the Ultralite because thats what I can afford for now so I can make for more equipment purchases this year. Has anyone had any bad experiences with MOTU though?

bad bad expiriences with 828 mk2 usb 2.0 in windows. unstable, device makes noises like there was a fan in it (humming louder then the pc fan noise), crackles in audio playback, pc don't boot up if interface is switched on, not possible to reach low latencys (maybe because it's usb).

only good thing: it recorded 8 tracks stable over hours.

i think an internal card always reaches lower latencys. usb interfaces are not for pro use.

chris vine · Post by **chris vine** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:26 am

+1 for the FF400, I just got one. A great piece of gear.

Emissary · Post by **Emissary** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:41 am

Just go RME, best soundcards on the planet bar none. Best thing in my studio and i never even notice its there.

Cryptic UK · Post by **Cryptic UK** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:47 am

Emissary wrote:Just go RME, best soundcards on the planet bar none. Best thing in my studio and i never even notice its there.

Which one have you got? 400 or 800
The 800 has two firewire 800 ports on it.
Could i daisy chain my 800 hard drive with it?
Would/could this replace my yamaha 01v?

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:49 am

and another 'warning' for Motu under windows, just check properly before, Motu cards are great, but we had also a lot of trouble under windows XP, none under OSX, though...

and with an RME you never really can go wrong.

zalo · Post by **zalo** » Tue Jan 19, 2010 3:37 pm

Cryptic UK wrote:
Emissary wrote:Just go RME, best soundcards on the planet bar none. Best thing in my studio and i never even notice its there.
Which one have you got? 400 or 800
The 800 has two firewire 800 ports on it.
Could i daisy chain my 800 hard drive with it?
Would/could this replace my yamaha 01v?

95% sure that this works

BoxDJ · Post by **BoxDJ** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 7:18 am

I am about to buy the Ultralite, but are there any other soundcards with less I/O's and good latency? I'll most likely be using 6 at most.

veggieryan · Post by **veggieryan** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 7:37 am

i recently had to rebuild my setup (studio robbed) and had to choose a low cost usb2 soundcard for low latency.

i found the m-audio fast track ultra has been totally redesigned since avid bought m-audio.

its low latency usb2 in the same league as the rme fireface UC and the drivers seem to be well written.

i am on mac and love it but i would bet the fast track ultra has better drivers on windoze than motu stuff easily.

the fast track ultra's are cheap on ebay.

3dot... · Post by **3dot...** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 8:57 am

veggieryan wrote: i am on mac and love it but i would bet the fast track ultra has better drivers on windoze than motu stuff easily.

the fast track ultra's are cheap on ebay.

you've got to be kidding ...right?

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