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Latency for soft synth beginners


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What has held me back somewhat from exploring softsynths is everyone talking about latency problems, or sometimes saying things like, "the latency isn't too bad with my current set-up," which says to me that some degree of latency should be the expected norm when dealing with softsynths. I'm not sure I can really deal with any noticeable latency (I realize that there is latency even in my hardware set-up, but it is not anything one would ever really notice). I need to hear the notes immediately as I play them, doesn't everyone? So my question really is: at what point does latency usually become an issue in the softsynth realm? Is it only when you have lots of note ons at the "same" time or is it actually noticeable in ordinary playing. Also, with softsynths, is it more a function of the sound you are calling up, the number of simultaneous notes you are playing or combination of both?

 

Thanks,

 

FS

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in my personal experience, if you are loading up the cpu so much that latency starts to change then you are doing something wrong.

 

solving latency for me was quite simple:: just get a half decent audio interface with decent drivers. that's all.

 

my indigo i/o and my emu 1820 both go down below 5ms so that is competitive with h/w synths and totally fine for playing purposes.

 

i would stay away from usb interfaces though...

 

 

The only reason latency is a thorn for newbs is that they will sometimes try everything before they shell out for a decent audio interface :) (and that being said, you might indeed get away with asio4all or whatever it is)

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So, what would be considered a decent audio interface?

 

I AM having trouble with my keyboard connection to my PC via a USB cable. You're suggesting a USB link is a bad way to go? What problems are you aware of?

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Originally posted by Kallen

So, what would be considered a decent audio interface?


I AM having trouble with my keyboard connection to my PC via a USB cable. You're suggesting a USB link is a bad way to go? What problems are you aware of?

 

 

anything pci, firewire or pcmcia is what i suggest...

 

usb is just pushed to its limits for multi-channel audio and tends to be less reliable then other connections.

 

there's really a plethora of good choices. i'm not a huge fan of m-audio, but even they are usually fine; myself i love the e-mu but some people apparently had driver issues.

 

tweakhead's website might have good summaries of what's out there

 

if you narrow it to a few in your price range people can probably help you decide

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