lol, well I try to find good things in anything bad i run into, or just how to deal with it. No i'm the same way I think, it bothers me and would mes up my rhythm if I hear the note after playing, so if I don't want it, I mute that instrument. Sometimes I can tolerate it by keeping it at low volume. That allows me to ignore it for the most part, but still be able to catch anything interesting. I've gotten more staisfying rhythms beause of that. Or simple, I'm playing a melody and I forgot the lag and...wait...that actually sounded better than what I had planned.

There's lots of wyas I get ideas. Accidentally messing up stuff, playing back at low very low volume....

lol, ok....so now with my clarification there....you're saying what I want is afterall, just a regular good soiundcard?

X-fi Titanium at reg price is $100. Titanium Fatality Pro is $150. Could I go for the $100 one or would there be some significant audio benefit that I should care about in getting the Pro ?

i see there are topics on this though...so i'm reading through them. :)

Try as you may, you will butt heads with the creative cards...yes, I have used them too; and they work. You can track with them, but the deeper you get into it, you will quickly outgrow it before you realize. I kept mine in my new rig, and added a M-audio 1010lt. I'd like to ****can both of them for a decent RME or lynx card to get high quality audio; and that's only after 5 months on this rig.

I think the problem is that many musicians such as myself have grown used to the crappy 4 and 8 track tape units we all started on, and even the simplest of DAW's blow them out of the water in SQ. However, with a few choice pieces you can have some really amazing results over the consumer stuff for a little bit more money. If you are in the boat to get the flagship creative card, you can easily afford the next step into one of the entry level professional units...trust me, you'll be glad you did.

My 1010LT cost me $78 shipped on Ebay, I have seen the 2496 go for $50-75 on a regular basis...yet you want to spend $150 on an inferior card? The logic seems misplaced. When you get your better "speakers" you may not notice the difference. You can take your work to another level just from moving to an entry-level pair of $200 powered monitors, and a $100 entry-level pro sound card.

I bucked the advice on here at first, but before you do anything else it would be prudent to look at the many threads on this subject before you make rash hardware descions!

lol, ok....so now with my clarification there....you're saying what I want is afterall, just a regular good soiundcard?

again....NO!!! I'm really not sure why you think I keep telling you to get a "regular" soundcard. I do NOT recommend anything by Soundblaster, nor do I recommend anything "regular" that you might find at best buy or walmart.

if your primary goal is to get low latency, then get a RECORDING SOUNDCARD. (NOTE: there are no Soundblaster cards in that category - some would argue that, but for your price range that's absolutely true).

did you look at the link I gave you earlier? the m-audio fasttrack is $100. it connects by USB. that will give you low latency.

if you are already decided that you want to buy a "regular" soundcard then do so, but DON'T say that's what I told you to get when you can't get low latency out of it!

Ok - so the confusion seems to be that you don't understand that a soundcard doesn't have to be INSIDE the computer! what we have here is failure to communicate! all of the devices wheter PCI, PCIe, USB, Firewire or Cardbus are all soundcards. they CAN replace your onboard soundcard (which is actually only a chip on the motherboard).

As for proof that a new soundcard will reduce your latency. no, I don't have it and I'm sure it's documented somewhere but I don't really have time to go search for it. I have experience with this and that's what I'm giving you advice with. I have used 2 soundblasters in the past - one was a PCI and the other was a USB. neither provided low latency. there are some on the market NOW which do, but they're more expensive that the gaming cards. I purchased a recording soundcard (the m-audio Delta44 PCI) and I can record with latency at 5.8msec. some folks can get lower than that with better (READ: more expensive) soundcards.

In your case, my best recommendation is still the m-audio fast track. it's not the best, but it should provide you with low latency hardware and drivers to run your softsynths with. I still do NOT recommend you plug it into a USB hub, however, but that you unplug something while you're using it. USB hubs typically will cause problems.

sp3tre,

a couple of things. A soundcard is what is what we usually call any internal or external unit to get sound into and out of the computer. Nonmusicians use the term almost specifically for a pci card or - more common these days - just built into a motherboard like the realtek. There is a lot of history there, which is of no use to anyone but those of us who lived through it. Musicians call audio and audio/interfaces a soundcard out of habit - a bad one. Most aren't cards - only the internal ones that hook up to a slot. They range from gamer cards to high quality Lynx to cards without buit in convertors but get digital audio in and out of your computer to high-end, external convertors.

Motherboard cards and gaming cards are OK for listening - but they often don't work well with softsynths. They don't have the drivers to deliver low latency when the computer is busy calculating a mini-moog emulation. That is one reason why musicians are emphatic about getting a music specific card, esp. if the price is the same at the low end. Now, I used to use an audigy too, and it worked OK - but that was before I was running softsynths. The computer is still used by my daughter and plays music fine - but the computer and the card would choke when I applied any more than one or two effects.

If you want low latency, your best bet is to pick up fast track or Transit, etc. You will probably need adaptor cables to hook them up to your computer speakers (not the transit, which is 1/8' minjack i/o like your speakers), but they should deliver lower latency than an internal gaming pci -e card. As such, they will operate as an external soundcard for all your regular computer needs (warning beeps, games, and music listening) and an audio interface for your writing. You'll have to turn that on in your Control Panel>Sound Devices (or hardware - I forget). There is really no practical difference between a soundcard and audio interface for your purposes - they are the same thing. But the music specific interfaces will perform better for your music needs.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Edirol-MA7A-Stereo-Micro-Monitors?sku=603677

that's really all I could recommed for a total budget of $200. $100 for the fast track, $100 for the monitors.

well, they can give decent bass. honestly I believe you need AT LEAST 6" woofers (and preferably 8") to get decent bass, but those are out of your price range.

honestly there aren't many in that price range. typically there's $100 to $150 then you jump to $250 to $400 then $500 to $1000 and then there are the $1000+ range. I started out with M-audio DX-4's in the $150 range then moved up to behringer truth 2301A's for $330. the behringers are the only ones in this class with 8" woofers.

here's a starting point to start researching:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/navigation/studio-monitors-subwoofers-recording-pro-audio?N=100001+338382&Ns=P_Price%7c0&rpp=20

be careful to notice that some of those are price for EACH, not for a pair.
also be careful to notice that you will need ACTIVE monitors, NOT passive. you can only use passive if you have an external amp. you COULD use passive if you have an external amp and those will be cheaper.