I'm looking into updating my old computer (on a budget), some of the deals I've seen only have PCIE slots (which rules out moving my current PCI sound card).

I just use VSTs (mainly Kontakt and Omni), and would like to keep the latency reasonable (as much below 10ms as possible).

What kind of latency are people getting with USB 2.0 interfaces? (e.g. Presonus AudioBox or AudioBox 22VSL)

There don't seem to be many PCIE cards in the budget range either, the main one I found being E-MU 0404 PCIe. Does anyone have experience with this card?

The new system would use Win7 64-bit.


You input is greatly appreciated.


Greg

This one isn't too bad, and reasonably priced:
http://www.esi-audio.com/products/maya44xte/

Depends on price point really. Your right that a PCIE soulution is normaly better but we didn't really see that with the EMU one as they appear to have used a bridging chip rather than a new design although it is floating around the 10ms area still. The ESI kit tends to double buffer which means smooth recording but the RTL's are a little higher than you'd probably want. If your sticking down around the £100 mark the Focusrites (Saffires and Scarletts) will hit around 9ms on the total RTL at the lowest buffer size with the Scarlett having the far better track count at that buffer setting. Other than that you'd have to be spending twice as much to be seeing improved performance from any of the units.

Thanks for the replies. I will do some more research.

I was just looking more into the E-MU card, and it looks like it has issues with the Win7 64-bit drivers. In addition to the trouble posts I've read, the E-MU site still lists these drivers as Beta (since the summer of 2010, I think).

Please keep the info coming.

Thanks again.

You might try asking over at Gearslutz...

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/

Lost of knowledgeable slutz over there.

The only USB interface I would "trust" would be the RME UC or whatever the new "Fireface 400" is.

Check here:
http://forum.dawbench.com/showthread.php?1548-Audio-Interfac e-Low-Latency-Performance-Data-Base/page11

All of the PCI/firewire cards are rated faster and better...
I have had great experiences with the M-Audio Profire 610 in terms of latency and value... It's the best value on that list for speed. I can run a 64 buffer with all sorts of craziness running, RTL is ~6.5ms. At 128 buffer it's 9ms.

That list is great because it shows RTL AND it kind of measure how stress was on the system as well (I don't know exactly what the measurements are though, but you can read the explanations).

You could also try to get an old RME Multiface.

to directly answer your question
the presonus audiobox VSL series was a masive surprise to me. since Presonus switched chips a few yrs ago (now Dice II like most others) presonus has been as bad as most firewire/USB budget interfaces.

however the VSL series runs awesome at even 32 buffer.. yes 32 buffer i said.
whilst not having tested a full "RTL" for a sub $1000 interface (more like sub 300) is does extremely well.

as mentioned PCIe will always be better but how better and is it worth the $.

for most no its not. the difference in PCIe to a good USB/Firewire interface is about .75ms

good usb
RME (of course)
the presonus VSL (still shocked about this)
M-audio ultra 8R
Lynx Aurora with USB or the new Hilo.

pretty much it until you jump to firewire and that list is pretty short as well..

Scott
ADK

The problem with PCIe audio interfaces is that there are not many of them.

The only good one that comes to my mind is RME AIO but it is a bit expensive. ESI Maya 44XTe sounds like a nice option but it is quite limited in terms of connectivity.

EMU PCIe audio interfaces I would not even touch.

And basically that is it. Except for some highly specialised multi-channel interfaces (MADI) or ProTools stuff I do not recall anything else that is available on PCIe.

Thanks for the new replies.

After doing some more research, I'm looking more at the Audiobox 22 VSL (good to hear the positive comments above). And does anyone have experience with the Roland UA 55 Quad Capture? It isn't in the ratings at DawBench yet.

Thanks

Greg

I don't own a QC but I do recall seeing people in the past talking about noise/hum when using z-input and certain volume settings. Here's the thread.

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2402520

Again, I don't own one and it could just be a bad unit -- but FYI.

Wow. You can pick up a 22VSL for $200. I can't think of another USB interface as inexpensive with close to that performance.

I was wondering about the latency estimates being only audio-in/audio-out, and how quick midi-in/audio-out would be (which is mainly what I need).

This appears to answer that question (the blue path): http://forums.presonus.com/posts/list/19153.page

The MIDI to VST to audio out latency of 4.9 ms (buffer 128) is totally fine for me. But I suppose all the interfaces with a midi-in would be similar...