Guitar Recording Issue - Records Fine But Plays Back Late

Hey, everyone. I'm having a recording issue with my guitar in Music Creator 6. I've used MC6 for plenty of MIDI recording - so I'm somewhat familiar with the program. However, I've tried to lay down a few guitar focused tracks and am having problems.
 
After recording my drums and keyboard (both via MIDI), I recorded my guitar. During the recording, everything sounds fine. However upon playback, the guitar becomes more and more late as the time of the track goes on (it is not longer synced up with everything else). In the short term, this forced me to record my guitar in 20-30 second increments over the course of the whole track... obviously not an ideal, long term solution.
 
Just to make sure I wasn't making a mistake, I ran a test to verify these problems. Using a metronome, I recorded a basic keyboard track playing whole notes for a few minutes. I then recorded a guitar track to match the timing of the keyboard. Again, everything sounded synced up during the recording; but upon playback, the guitar became increasingly late. I am struggling to determine the cause of this (and thus a fix). Here are my current thoughts/ questions on the matter:

   - To my understanding, latency describes the time between playing an instrument and hearing it through the speakers. If this is true, then latency doesn't explain my problem since I don't notice any delays in sound while recording. Is this correct thinking? I'm not an expert on the matter.
   - Will a new (and improved sound card fix the issue? I am planning on getting a new desktop, and I would like to know if I need to buy a separate sound card while I spec it out. I currently have an older computer with an okay (but not great sound card) - before this, I thought it was adequate but perhaps it isn't?
   - Do I need an Audio Interface between the guitar and computer? Currently, I plug my guitar directly into the computer's sound card. My MIDI instruments (keyboard and drums) both plug into the computer via USB so I never considered the need for an Audio Interface. I'm pretty unfamiliar about them so I don't know if they would help address this or not. 
 
Anyway, sorry for the long post - I just wanted to be thorough with my issues. I have looked around and haven't been able to find any similar posts on the matter.
 
If you need any other info, or are unsure of something, feel free to ask away. This problem has me at a loss. Thanks in advance for any insight anybody might have.
 
J

Thanks for the quick reply, scook! I totally appreciate it!
 
I am starting to scope out a new computer (I could use an upgrade on so many fronts). If I get a dedicated audio interface, should I still look into getting a discrete sound card, or will the one included with the motherboard suffice?
 
Speaking of audio interfaces, are there any you recommend? It looks like I need to do some research on the topic, but I'm always open to hearing more experienced views on the matter.
 
Thanks again!

+1 to what scook wrote.
Just a few supplemental notes:
Don't be tempted by anything Lexicon. They are cheap for a reason. They are USB1, and at best, are capable of almost tolerable latency.
I have limited faith in USB power. That power is limited, it is shared, and it only goes so far. Underpowered devices can exhibit some very strange behavior.
I have numerous devices that communicate via USB, but they all have external power.
Don't underestimate what you really need. The price difference between "get by" and "this is just what I needed" is probably minimal.
There are a number of decent units in the $200-300 range.
I have to suggest you at least look at the Akai EIEPro.
Early reviews were accurate, as the original drivers sucked, but the current drivers rock. The front panel offers great control for recording guitar. And I like the integrated USB bus.
M-Audio has recently released a clone of it(minus the VU meters).
I do like the midrange Scarlett units as well, but the Akai has some way cool stuff going on.
Weigh your options, and look for a good fit.

On point, the problem you're experiencing now is due to a sampling rate mismatch between your sound card and Music Creator.
The sound card is probably set to 48,000 Hz @ 16-bit and MC is probably 41,100 Hz @ 16-bit. Set them so they match.
And I've entered your name in the "longest time between joining the forum and first post" drawing.

When working with a DAW only the audio interface matters. It is the sound card handing both input from your instrument and microphones and output to your headphones and speaker. The audio interface can completely replace the internal sound chip for all application sound. Alternately, the internal chip can be used for all other applications and use the audio interface only for your DAW application. I suppose the internal chip could be replaced by an additional sound card if there were a home theater or gaming requirement for surround sound. Currently I use my audio interface for all application audio but have in the past ran surround sound off the internal chip and DAW audio through my dedicated audio interface.

think of the "audio interface" and "soundcard" as the same thing (because they are! - BOTH are "soundcards")
 
you do NOT need a soundcard AND an audio interface, you only need the "audio interface" which will convert from A/D and D/A with the inputs and outputs you think you will need, and with low latency ASIO drivers.
 
the onboard soundchip on ALL computers is insufficient.  but a soundcard with mic and line inputs and a couple of line outputs plus a digital I/O (USB2 or Firewire...etc). is what you need.

USB interfaces work fine..... just don't buy a USB mic and expect that to work fine, because it generally doesn't.