Re: Card For MIDI Controller
2017/02/10 05:53:20
(permalink)
☄ Helpfulby nathanCFD 2017/02/11 21:04:42
An audio interface can help with latency, but they can be quite different in latency...
To get a good advise here, please specify which scale of latency you experience now and with which latency you can work.
May be an example explains better what I mean. I have DP (Kawai) and 3 MIDI controllers. Also I have several computers with different audio interfaces, including build-in, SB, Fireware and USB. Note that all combinations are "playable" for me, but some are not nice to play:
* DP direct. The same as you with Motif, there is no perceptible latency. Any digital device has some latency, it is just small. I have not measure real latency of DP, but I guess it is around the same as in digital mixers plus MIDI part, ~2ms + ~2-3ms.
* very close to that is my setup with Fireware interface in "extreme" (for that interface) settings: ~3ms for audio output. I guess USB MIDI keyboard adds at least 2-4ms more (I have feeling that my Roland with special "hi speed" driver is better than generic USB MIDI I use for other keyboards and DP). Real MIDI connection (big 5 pin connectors) is old and slow, 1 note takes ~1ms to transfer, so 10 finger chord takes ~10ms to transfer! Musicians are using such equipment live on stage...
* next is my old notebook with build-in interface under ASIO, ~10ms audio plus again 2-4ms MIDI
* my "slowest" setup is USB interface with audio latency ~10ms with DP connected throw USB, which looks like add additional 6-10ms (my USB MIDI keyboard(s) for some reason have lower latency then DP).
I mean the worse case is ~20ms latency. Unlike for singing, that is still playable. If I switch on local DP sound in parallel with SoftSynth, there is clear "doubling" of notes, but is is not (!) like DP note plays, delay, SoftSynth note plays (as long as SoftSynth is also a piano, in case it is slow strings there is a huge expected attack...). I have tested that I can still play simple piano peaces with up to ~30ms latency. It is well known that fingers and brain can "auto-compensate" the latency up to some level.
Note that default ASIO buffer for ASIO4ALL is very conservative (and not playable). The same for SB ASIO (SB is quite bad in latency, independent from what they advertise). And the same will be with U-44 ASIO. You should adjust the buffer all the way down till you get audio pop/clicks/cracks and then start to increase till you no longer have problems. Note that when you are recording MIDI only, it can be acceptable to have periodic (2-3 per minute) clicks during recording as the price for low latency.
Also note that many USB audio interfaces, especially older generation, have quite big latency (comparable with your SB). While most old PCI/Fireware interfaces are good in that respect (you can get them second hand for under $40, but not all are working under Windows 10!).
Sonar 8LE -> Platinum infinity,
REAPER, Windows 10 pro
GA-EP35-DS3L, E7500, 4GB, GTX 1050 Ti, 2x500GB
RME Babyface Pro (M-Audio Audiophile Firewire/410, VS-20), Kawai CN43, TD-11, Roland A500S, Akai MPK Mini, Keystation Pro, etc.
www.azslow.com - Control Surface Integration Platform for SONAR, ReaCWP, AOSC and other accessibility tools