ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Beagle)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:12:30 GMT

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.

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:46:42 GMT

Blood of Dorga!

no wonder I was kinda of confused when people talked about monitors....they're a type of speakers??? " /> wow.

Well, already did a bit of research...if I'm understanding it correctly, typical multimedia speaker trying to make audio sound as good as possible, while monitors try to output sound as accurately as possible so that I can hear exactly what it sounds like, for the best chance of other people hearing it the way I want it to sound.

It threw me off when I see.. a tiny... 2 speakers set for $100. so much for my idea for 5.1 surround speakers. but my games isn't a priority of course. I think I understand now it's monitors I need. Really though, they can give accurate bass? By producing overtones and we can't tell the difference? I would have thought tha's technobabble! " />

Thanks for the reccomendation. Are there many options for monitors around that price? If I'm lucky, I could get the fastrack pretty cheap on ebay, so I could be able to spend a little bit more for speakers - er, monitors. I already had a separate bit of money planned for speakers, so you can consider my soundcard budget as the budget for monitors too; about $150. If there may be many suggestions, I'll just make a new topic for more people to see, don't worry about it. You've been a big help and I thank you and greatly appreciate it; don't want to leave you as the only one i'm picking suggestions and too much help from. " />

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Beagle)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:05:46 GMT

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.

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:35:31 GMT

cool, thanks a bunch you two, Beagle, AT, and the others who replied to my topic. " />

my local best buy has the Fast track, so I'm going to get it and make sure it works for me. Regardless, I'll mostly likely return it and get it online or off ebay, where I'm seeing some really good deals. Could end up even getting the fast track PRO ofr under $100, we'll see.

so now to look for some speakers.... " />

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (AT)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:26:33 GMT

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.

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:22:41 GMT

ok, awesome, I think I understand now. Sorry if I've been a pain. and yes I wouuld not use a hub on it; i'd use it to plug in other stuff. Thank you very much. :)

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Beagle)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:58:14 GMT

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.

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:33:40 GMT

oh...sorry. I thought that's what you meant when you said "then my advice is to get the better soundcard. if you're measuring it by sound then the only way to solve that is to get a better soundcard with better drivers."

Sorry, this is all just very lost and totally confusing to me. A soundcard to me is... a PCI or PCIe soundcard; anything else just doesn't register on me as a soundcard, partly because they seem to be called audio interfaces and recording interfaces and I don't see anything about say, midi processing.

And yes, I had seen the fast track, sorry, I forgot about it when writing my last post, so yeah, that's obviously most likely the one i'd go with.

So, let me get this straight....clearly then. My latency issue is midi input. In fact, I have no idea what other kinds of latency one can have, but mine is midi; the delay between a note being hit on keyboard, and being recorded in Sonar. This fasttrack would solve that?

also, Sonar / any soft synths and my realtek drivers aren't working with each other (no playback, no audio), which is why I need to buy something. The fasttrack would also solve that, and get me ASIO drivers?

That's all I'm concerned about. The inputs on the fasttrack would be useless to me.

I have seen no answer or proof to that from reading product descriptions which is another reason why I'm confused, and I'm having to go just by what you guys say.

again, please excuse my difficulty in understnading all this. technical audio hardware stuffs just really not my area at all. <.<

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Beagle)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:06:53 GMT

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!

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:27:20 GMT

no, i wanna spend $100 on an inferior card now. :P I mean, above everything, i'd prefer to go back to my integrated sound. but it's not working, so that's not going to happen, unless cakewalk support pulls through for me in a few days...which is doubtful, after 2 - 3 weeks of emails and constantly asking me stuff I already answered. >.<

and this is a new computer. It's all PCIe. One PCIe 1x free.

any USB or firewire stuff just gets too expensive. A small few may fit in budget, but then i stay with my crappy speakers. (and honestly, i had forgotten, but i think my speakers are failing too... my back up speakers are... uh... from an old compaq that ran Windows 98 (original edition)).

I really wasn't considering ebay as a choice because I don't like the idea of getting it used. These are sensitive, delicate parts, those PCI and PCIe connections. Maybe I could save a ltitle bit on brand new ones, but not enough to try to look for something typically much more expensive.

and now I decided to factor in the cost of new speakers.... which, could easily be $100+.

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Ron Vogel)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:16:53 GMT

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!

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:01:19 GMT

ORIGINAL: Ron Vogel

4 and 8 track tape units we all started on,

no idea what those are. :P

I know it'd be nice to be more open to the future and have input and all this stuff, but it's not important. I work with soft sythns, i write orchestral stuff, EWQL SO Gold, all recording is midi, and i've been perfectly happy with integrated audio. Been using integrated audio for 2 1/2 years, and perfectly fine. Somethig went wrong on this new computer, and things arent working with soar and soft sythns, so i see no alternative than to get a sound card.

I haven't yet "outgrown" even integrated audio and PC speakers, but right now is my change to do a a teeny bit better, so a good set of speakers is the main way. Even my integreated audio probably isn't sounding it's best due to my speakers. " />

Those are my reasons. I'm sitl lthe noob here, so DO please sitll correct me if I'm wrong, but from i've read, from the discussions through this whole topic, looks like I'll be just fine with a reg sound card - and i'll finally get some better sound for the ocassional game. " /> Even beagle seemed to agree with that now that I clearly explained my latency issue is a midi issue, not an audio processing thing or whatever. I just want to get back to work, low midi latency, and get some speakers.

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Ron Vogel)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:28:15 GMT

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.

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:00:53 GMT

I'm thinking Creative's X-Fi Titanium ($100) or Asus Xonar DX ($90).

Any of these are going to be better then my onboard audio. Most important thing is simply being more reliable and allowing my synths to work! good drivers, dependable, good ASIO drivers for sonar. And removing the latency between htting a key on the keyboard, and it registering and being recorded in Sonar. I don't think I see any important difference between the two. Since they're better than one i have, and my main reason is for my sif synths and sonar to work again, I'm not going for anything more expensive. This also gvies me some financial breathing room and I cold get some good speakers too. I'm just using stereo, speakers from a 6yeard old sony.

All really care about is the midi latency and something stable that works, cause I've got a game and a movie waiting for my music and i'll keep scoring for them.

some people seem to criticize Creative's drivers (unless i'm confused..I've been seeing and reading so much over these past 2 days), but others seem to say, no, they're rock solid, they're the big company and they have to be good with drivers. I've seen more negative stuff about drivers for the Xonar I think, probably because Asus is new to the sound card stuff.

I read reviews on techreport.com (dang were those in depth... even talking about sound card componenet which idon't have a clue about), and they gave both cards very good ratings, for their price range and purposes of course. Generally both seem to be considered decent cards.

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:38:47 GMT

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. :)

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Beagle)

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:32:31 GMT

ORIGINAL: Sp3ctre18

no accurate way.

Mainly i just know that at 120 bpm, if I hit the note on the beat, I'll hear it / it'll register in sonar a beat later (roughly).

I've actually used that to my advantage a few times, and it has caused audible mistakes and rythm irregularities that gave me ideas for a better part. " />

then my advice is to get the better soundcard. if you're measuring it by sound then the only way to solve that is to get a better soundcard with better drivers.

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:39:12 GMT

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....

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (AT)

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:31:49 GMT

your a better man than me, Sp3ctre - it messes me up to know end hearing the sound after I press the key. I have enough useful mistakes as it is.

later,

@

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:30:43 GMT

no accurate way.

Mainly i just know that at 120 bpm, if I hit the note on the beat, I'll hear it / it'll register in sonar a beat later (roughly).

I've actually used that to my advantage a few times, and it has caused audible mistakes and rythm irregularities that gave me ideas for a better part. " />

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Beagle)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:21:30 GMT

how are you measuring the time between when you press a key and the time it shows up in sonar?

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:47:46 GMT

should be instant? O.o

heck yeah, i have a latency of 1/3 to 1/2 a second. This is the latecny issue I've been talking about all along, lol. I guess I wasn't clear, i'm sorry. It's the same latency (or close enough) as the delay between pressing the note and hearing it. This my latency issue. When i've mentioend it before, I could be wrong, but I hear people say it's the integrated sound that is just slow... I need a soundcard or something if I want low latecny.

I use a yamaha MIDI to USB cable, UX16, and again, my sound is integrated realtek HD audio.

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Beagle)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:40:39 GMT

That's completely different. you shouldn't have ANY noticable difference between the time you hit a key on the keyboard and the time it gets recorded in sonar (there's a very small difference, but we should be talking less than 1 msec). are you saying that you do have a difference?

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:11:39 GMT

oh... ok I see. Hearing part doesn't concern me much though, more importantly is the midi input registering in sonar. I don't mind hearing late, because I can just mute if I want, but I'd like my playing on the keyboard registering asap into midi event in sonar.

Is that a different thing, or same explanation?

(and btw, this isn't questioning it and thus not advancing anywhere; just for mah eddycation and while I keep looking at the this stuff, the reccomendtations, looking at the webpages...)

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Beagle)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:49:52 GMT

Because latency is caused by your round trip from your MIDI controller into the computer thru the software synth and out thru the soundcard. if the soundcard is not designed for low latency and has low latency drivers then it will slow down the time between when you press a key on the keyboard and the time you HEAR it coming from the sound card. it's not the MIDI input, it's the soundcard throughput that slows down the sound.

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:43:00 GMT

ah ok, yes thank you very much; yes that clears it up better. :)

the only thing that I still don't understand is, unless the interface has midi I/O, how would it drop my latency issue if my midi goes straight into the computer and this audio interface is external? It would seem to me like for that to work, my midi event goes into the computer through USb, somehow goes back out through usb into the interface, then back into the computer through usb. o.O doesn't sound liek that would be good for latency.....

you're sscaring me with the speaker thing though lol. I'd need a different connection? or even another set of speakers? " />

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (AT)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:09:35 GMT

Spectre,

into the breech again. The soundcard on your computer is good for listening to non-critical music, gaming, and warning beeps and such. You can run it concurrent with a better sound card - you just have to assign your recording software to the better interface.

What we are talking about is an audio interface that you can hook up to a speaker/amp so you can hear your glorious, selfproduced music over better than computer speakers. However, most people use them to input acoustic sound, hence most of them include i/o. At this point, you don't have to worry about input, just output. A real interface will also give you lower latency when playing softsynths (a built-in card has problems with that, as you have discovered).

For $200 you can get the Emu or M-audio. Both should work fine, once you get it set up. They also will allow you to record audio if you ever want/need to do that, but the main thing is that they will give you a nice signal out and let you play a softsynth in real time. Just ignore the inputs at this time.

If you are happy with computer speakers you'll have to get cables with the proper connections between the two. If you want to use your computer soundcard, too, you'll need a second set of them. But you'll probably like a set of better speakers/amp - 5 or more inch woofers.

Have a look at audiomidi page for recording. You are probably looking at a usb interface (firewire seems to be more and there doesn't seem to be any budget pcie units). I use a presonus fw unit with no problems and there is a cheap yamaha (PRICE TOO LOW TO PRINT), besides the other units listed.

hope this helps. It is confusing if you are coming from the music world rather than the recording world. But it ain't rocket science once you get the terminology down.

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:03:29 GMT

No, I doubt it's your fault. I just don't understand a lot of this audio stuff.

ORIGINAL: Beagle
Your onboard soundcard is not really good for recording for use in Sonar. if you want to do all the stuff you listed above, you need a soundcard designed for recording. actually, you're not going to get EVERYTHING you asked for in $100 recording soundcard, but it will be a start.

Ok, let's start here. First off, I raised my budget, more like $150, or $200 at max. Maybe we need to clear up this "recording stuff." To me, when i've been seeing all this stuff and I see "recording," I take that to mean...well, recording something like, a mic, an external source, electric guitar, boombox.... and that's not really what I'm looking for. I work with soft synths, EWQL SO Gold as a PLAY plugin into Sonar. I used to be working on a high-end bt 6-year old computer with integrated audio and that was working perfectly for me. The only reason I bought a new comptuer is beacuse I needed more Ram and needed x64. On this new computer, I also used its integreted audio, and it was just fine. Nothiner ever seemed to get taxed or have an issue. Only on my old computer and that was becuase of Ram filling up with my samples. Then something went wrong on my compy, and sonar doesn't want to work if there's a soft synth in. no idea why. *shrugs* All I need it for my synth to work in sonar, so that's why I thought maybe a regular sound card like, I dunno, creative's sound blaster X-fi titanium or something.

this must mean that you already have an external preamp? otherwise you can't plug a mic into a LINE LEVEL input. Mic's don't output enough power for LINE LEVEL inputs.

I don't know what a preamp is exactly, I looked it up...it's confusing. I think you can assume I don't have ANYTHING lol. I don't do audio stuff. The microphones I refer to are a PC microphone and a ancient hand-held mike that's got an adaptor on it so I can plug into computer. Maybe you're right about the line in. It's plugged into "mic" right now. On my old computer, i'm pretty sure i used line in and mic interchangeable. Maybe that's why mic input was really quiet sometimes, but I could be wrong.

any "regular" soundcard is not going to give you good low latency. you'll need to spend at least $100 on a recording soundcard with quality drivers in order to get low latency.

Alright. And I should clarify actually, by latency I'm referring to midi events from keyboard, the delay between pressing and hearing/showing up in sonar.

then a PCI soundcard with LINE level inputs will be fine for you until you need to connect mics up. when you need to record a mic, then you'll need to buy an external preamp like a small mixer.

ok, got it... and yeah, vid card isn't related lol.

here's something that will give you low latency without too much else:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-Fast-Track-USB-Computer-Recording-Interface?sku=703606
however - if you plug it into a USB hub that will likely cause problems. you may have to unplug things while you're working on music

Ok, these external stuff is what confuses me, but I guess it's just the looks that's throwing me off. it looks like a recording thingy, no mention of sound playback or processing. So are you saying that IS a soundcard, just, it's got more stuff and that makes it a "Recording soundcard" as you call it? So it still acts like a regular soundcard like to playback my music and stuffs? it just...what, has more processing power or something? " />

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Beagle)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:57:19 GMT

Am I just looking for a regular sound card then? I looked at the other products listed in your review... all the firewire and USB stuff seem to be recording stuff. With strange big plus-sign like connctions and mic inputs and referenes to guitars and stuff.

If by "regular soundcard" you means something like your onboard soundcard or a soundblaster soundcard, then NO, I don't think we're communicating here.

Your onboard soundcard is not really good for recording for use in Sonar. if you want to do all the stuff you listed above, you need a soundcard designed for recording. actually, you're not going to get EVERYTHING you asked for in $100 recording soundcard, but it will be a start.

When I rarely use my mics, they both go to line in anyway

this must mean that you already have an external preamp? otherwise you can't plug a mic into a LINE LEVEL input. Mic's don't output enough power for LINE LEVEL inputs.

good latency. Any good soundcard should give me relatively zero latency right? As long as it's a big difference from my current 300ms latency

any "regular" soundcard is not going to give you good low latency. you'll need to spend at least $100 on a recording soundcard with quality drivers in order to get low latency.

so, the ability to use 2 mics for stereo were I get mics, would be nice; it'd be good to have the option. However, TOTALLY extra. I'd rather save money on more sound libraries.

then a PCI soundcard with LINE level inputs will be fine for you until you need to connect mics up. when you need to record a mic, then you'll need to buy an external preamp like a small mixer.

RCA inputs. I have 2 sets of L/R from the video card, I don't need anything better right? Besides, I don't see what I would use them for. Totally not interested.

I don't understand what your video card has to do with anything.

some final things to say again: desktop PC, all slots are PCI Express, and I've only got a PCIe 1x free. Got a firewire connection. USB is not totally out of the question if I must go external, but I'll need to get a USB hub too.

there are only a few soundcards which are designed for PCIe yet at this point. that will probably change in the near future, but at this time there aren't many and those that do exist are way out of your budget.
firewire is a good choice, but they're typically out of your budget as well.
usb is a good choice but they're more expensive than just a simple PCI card with simple 2 analog LINE inputs because there aren't many without mic pres on them.

bottom line.
if you want low latency for your softsynths, you'll need a recording soundcard.
if you can't use a PCI card, you'll have to buy a USB or Firewire card
here's something that will give you low latency without too much else:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-Fast-Track-USB-Computer-Recording-Interface?sku=703606
however - if you plug it into a USB hub that will likely cause problems. you may have to unplug things while you're working on music

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Sp3ctre18)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:26:23 GMT

hehe ok. Yeah, when I talked about still being able to use my onboard aduio, I did not mean at same time. " />

Am I just looking for a regular sound card then? I looked at the other products listed in your review... all the firewire and USB stuff seem to be recording stuff. With strange big plus-sign like connctions and mic inputs and referenes to guitars and stuff.

PCI stuff seems to be great, looks like sound card + some extea inputs, and a card plus midi would be nice to allow me to free up a USB. But they're all old PCI and not PCIe.

So, regular sound card then? I know there's Creative...isn't there another big company too?

RE: ASAP! suggestions for sound card or interface (Beagle)

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:20:34 GMT

that's OK - you can still use your 5.1, 6.1 whatever system you have on your motherboard for gaming and movies and use the new recording soundcard in sonar only.

and no, the coax is not for cable - it's for digital audio, but again, if you don't have an external converter to send coaxial digital to your system then it's useless to you (as it will be for probably 99% of people who have computers with it on the system!).