smallest (external) soundcard for portable

[dasilvasings]

Hi,

I have an ASUS 901. Obviously the internal soundcard has a lot of latency. Does anyone knows of a pendisk-kinda external soundcard designed for audio?

[64Guitars]

Are these what you're looking for?  I haven't tried them.

http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/sound-cards/audio-advantage-micro-ii.aspx

http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/sound-cards/audio-advantage-amigo-ii.aspx




http://us.store.creative.com/Sound-Blaster-XFi-Go/M/B002651ZNI.htm




http://us.store.creative.com/Sound-Blaster-XFi-Go-Pro/M/B0044DEDC0.htm

[dasilvasings]

yes and no! physically that's what I was looking for, but I had an experience with an external soundblaster, and there was as much latency as with the internal (default) soundcard.

I will write them asking about latency in e.g. cubase

[SdC]

Hi,

I have an ASUS 901. Obviously the internal soundcard has a lot of latency. Does anyone knows of a pendisk-kinda external soundcard designed for audio?

"for audio" is a bit of a general term. What do you want to record (i.e. guitar, microphone -condenser with phantom power or not, line level) and with what quality (16 or 24 bit, sampling rate 44k, 48, 96...)?

[SdC]

Latency will ALLWAYS be a problem when you use an external box for sound input and want to monitor using another interface.

External interface--->USB---->PC----->Internal interface monitor

Zero-latency is only possible if you use the output on the same interface, and that makes it a challenge to set up a true multi-track recording solution around a DAW where all the musicians can hear each other real time, using separate audio interfaces.... In those cases it's better to get a multi-IO interface.

Here are a few low latency interfaces I'm looking at right now:
Cakewalk http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=1089&ParentId=436
Shure http://www.shure.com/americas/products/accessories/microphone-accessories/problem-solvers/x2u-xlr-to-usb-signal-adapter

[dasilvasings]

Thanks for the advice.

I know the cakewalk interface, I was just wondering if there was something similar in a pendisk format.

I've checked with Soundblaster & Turtle beach, and did some web search, and I'm starting to understand there are 2 issues on latency:

1. audio (working with many tracks)
2. midi

Regarding audio, since I only need a track at a time, I'll try again with the internal soundcard, dry, without any effects and with low definitions (e.g. 16 bit / 44k?), this time doing all the things they say (update drivers, turn off avirus, defrag, etc.).

Problem 2, midi. Apparently the problem is not the midi itself, but the fact modern (commercial) soundcards don't have the midi soundbanks anymore, and the lag comes from using the windows internal mess/ soundbank. This poses a problem. I don't care about complex VSTs while recording the midi phrase, i just want to regord wth no latency, and later apply all the VST and effects I want. I think I will look for a light vst that runs on cubase or cakewalk and bypasses the windows sounbanks. Otherwise I'll have to find an external midi module, like you suggested (input and output in the same interface).

rant: it pisses me off why commercial soundcards invest so much in stupid add ons to gaming instead of solving something that should be straightforward, like putting the input/ output in the same interface!

[cuthbert]

Have you tried installing ASIO4ALL on your system, and choosing it for playback and recording?

[Flash Harry]

Edirol UA-4FX

24 bit, 96kHz, Mic Input, 48V Phantom Power, MIDI in/out, guitar in, line in/out, SPDIF, three knobs and a few buttons, Tube emulator. It's a Roland by another name. I use it with Cakewalk and have no trouble.

[64Guitars]

That looks like a nice little audio interface! The fact that it's powered solely by the USB connection makes it great for laptop users.

Edirol UA-4FX

It's a Roland by another name. I use it with Cakewalk and have no trouble.

It's now under the Cakewalk brand name rather than Edirol, and comes with a Cakewalk Limited Edition software bundle (SONAR, Project5, and Dimension).

http://www.roland.com/products/en/UA-4FX/index.html

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UA4FX

[Flash Harry]

That looks like a nice little audio interface! The fact that it's powered solely by the USB connection makes it great for laptop users.

It's great with my cronky old HP nc6120 laptop, SH-201 and TD9 and I can plug my condenser into it as well. I don't have any trouble with latency. It's a nice little box.

[Wartime Novelty]

also dont rule out the line6 toneport gx

great little piece of kit

[dasilvasings]

Thanks for the advice, but I was looking for a pendisk size external card...

I did try the Asio4all but I still have latency...

Meanwhile, I think the solution will be... the br80! Small, portable, independent, and I can switch to any computer if needed. I also considering investing some time with energyXT or reaper (instead of cakewalk/ sonar) since they work both in Windows and Linux.



Lets see!

[SdC]

I just came across these online:
http://www.centrance.com/
I haven't seen them in stores, but I guess it is the closest to "pen sized" that I've seen so far.

[dasilvasings]

Wow! Thanks SdC! This is what a meant with portability. However, I think I changed my mind with all this talk around the BR080 and its capacity to work as an audio interface (and standolone  ).

In the meanwhile, I've been (very slowly) trying out Energy XT, a DAW that claims works in Linux and Win. So far I only used in Win, and it runs and opens really smoothly. I'm not comfortable with the interface yet. No so friendly as reaper/ cubase/ cakewalk, but probably it is just a question of time.

[64Guitars]

I've been (very slowly) trying out Energy XT, a DAW that claims works in Linux and Win.
No so friendly as reaper

According to the Reaper website, the 32-bit Windows version runs in Linux under Wine. I haven't tried it myself.

http://www.reaper.fm/technical.php