Hello, I'm pretty new with sonar, and my sound card is a Sound Blaster Recon3Di. Unfortunately, like I read in the threads on here, I get latency using it. My computer is an alianware m17x r4 with 16 gb of ram, so that's not a problem. I'm mainly looking for a cheep sound card that would give me close to no latency. I'm only using sonar to sing and mix my song with the music, so I'd like something not too expensive, close to $70 if possible. I read about the m-audio fast track USB 1.0/1.1, but I'm not sure it will work since I don't think my laptop has 2.0 USB ports, only 3.0. I'm hoping you guys can help me find something good for me, thank you

I don't know if you can get something that works at that price point, but you do NOT want to use a USB1.0/1.1 interface.  It will not deliver the performance you are looking for.

Save a bit more and get this:
http://uk.focusrite.com/u...nterfaces/scarlett-2i2

You will probably need to go outside your budget if you want something half decent sorry.

Did you try contacting Dell?
 
http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs/direct2dell/b/direct2dell/archive/2010/02/19/update-on-dpc-latency-for-alienware-m17x-customers
 
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=W39M6
 
Assuming that what they are offering as a fix solves the DPC latency issue, you may not need to go to an external. There is nothing inherent in the Soundblaster that should cause unusable latency per se. This could just be another good example of why not to buy a hot off-the-shelf notebook for audio. 

All good links. I would also check here first for Dell drivers and firmware:
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Products/?IsTag=False&IsInvalidSelection=False
 
The SoundBlaster is a gamers card so I doubt it will be up to much recording wise, no hardware acceleration or ASIO support.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1142245/creative-creative-unleashes-sound-blaster-recon3d/340
 
I would still recommend getting a reasonable external interface (see previous post).
 
Cheers...

"I'm mainly looking for a cheep sound card that would give me close to no latency."
 
Cakealex has given you the best advice.
 
What you need are good audio drivers. That is what Sonar needs to work properly, that is the heart of a good audio DAW system. Generic audio drivers are for the most part a big waist of time. 
 
So your goal is to by an Audio Interface that comes with good drivers.  Focusrite Scarlett's  have become the most popular in the lower price point market for that reason.  There will be a bunch of others at that price point but at this time I'm not aware of any with as good a rep as the Focusrite Scarletts.  
 
Example: Musicians Friends Stupid deal of the day was a Tascam interface for $50 and to look at the specs would be identical to the 2i2. But this was the catch- 'Class compliant device does not need drivers' !! So sure, it will probably work fine with a Mac and with some audio apps like Audacity, but I guarantee you big problems with Sonar. USB mikes fall under this category too. People spend day's and day fighting these set ups when the answer is simple- proven, tested ASIO drivers. 
 
Almost all modern audio interfaces use direct monitoring so there is no latency while overdubing. This is nothing to do with Round Trip Latency which is a whole other kettle of fish. 
Interfaces with lower round trip latency performance are not cheap. 

CakeAlexS
 
The SoundBlaster is a gamers card so I doubt it will be up to much recording wise, no hardware acceleration or ASIO support.
 
 
Cheers...

Although I also suggest that you get a new ASIO audio interface you might want to try ASIOALL:
http://www.download366.com/asio4all?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=366_USA_en_longtail_Utilidades&utm_content=ASIO4ALL&utm_term=ASIO4ALL
 
ASIOALL is a wrapper for WDM that is suppose to lower latency and it just may buy you some time to save and invest in a good audio interface.  ASIOALL is free so it will not cost you anything but time to try it.
 
Note that I do not have any experience with ASIOALL personally.
 
 

MarioD

CakeAlexS
 
The SoundBlaster is a gamers card so I doubt it will be up to much recording wise, no hardware acceleration or ASIO support.
 
 
Cheers...

Although I also suggest that you get a new ASIO audio interface you might want to try ASIOALL:
http://www.download366.com/asio4all?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=366_USA_en_longtail_Utilidades&utm_content=ASIO4ALL&utm_term=ASIO4ALL
 
ASIOALL is a wrapper for WDM that is suppose to lower latency and it just may buy you some time to save and invest in a good audio interface.  ASIOALL is free so it will not cost you anything but time to try it.
 
Note that I do not have any experience with ASIOALL personally.
 
 

That's really not bad advice as a starting point. When I took just my laptop and a couple of USB controllers with me on vacation, I didn't think about my M-Audio box.  SampleTank 3 just wouldn't run with the built in audio on the laptop.  ASIO4All proved to be a fine alternative that got me up an running with low latency and usable audio quality.
Just might be the answer while saving some dough for something with real I/O's!
 
Brian

You can try ASIO4ALL. It's a free software soundcard emulator, I think, that may work and you would not have to spend any money.
 
Best bet is to get a decent AI. (audio interface) The above will work well. Roland has a Duo Capture. I'm not sure on prices but the focusrite is also good.

Try ASIO4ALL of you like (not a fan myself), but as I said there doesn't appear to be any hardware acceleration (magic will not happen) so once you are done with it make sure you fully uninstall it.