best soundcard for playing live?

[Adambomb337]

I will be using a laptop PC for playing a live show. What soundcard would you recommend that is most reliable with decent quality of sound?

[C00kie]

Search for a cardbus or PCMCIA card that fits your laptop.

[TheDreamless]

Sorry for revamping such an old post, but i have a similar question to this one..

I wish to use a laptop for liveshows, and I am not sure about which soundcard to choose and what to look for. What I know so far, is that I seriously need an 1/4 TRS output (Balanced (i believe) should be more preferable.) and as low as possible latency and asio support!
Any suggestions?

I 'm simply a noob at this, any advice is going to be much appreciated

Thanks!!

[s4w2th]

I use an e-mu 1616m cardbus and microdock with an expresscard adapter and I'm happy as a clam.
4ms latency for me...

trs wise it uses mono plugs for left and right channels.

Only issue I can see is that with the cardbuss and express card adapter it sticks out quite a bit. And if the microdock cable is connected, it weighs down on the card slot. No problems so far but it worries me. So I usually prop it up with what ever is handy.

[BONES]

I've been using USB devices for years without any problems. My current set-up is a Line 6 Toneport KB37, as it is both I/O and controller in one and it looks great on stage. Prior to that I had the UX2, which is the same as the KB37 without the MIDI controller wrapped around it. I have been really pleased with these devices, although the Edirol UA20 they replaced was also robust and reliable [you would need a UA25 for balanced outputs].

What I like about the KB37/UX2 is:
- the bundled GearBox software is awesome
- the flexible routing allows us to set-up now without a mixer [PC into Main inputs, microX into Monitor inputs and two vocal mics into Mic inputs]
- Level meters that can be assigned to a number of different things
- footswitch/pedal inputs with flexible assignment [I use one to bypass the GearBox effects and the other to increment the Gearbox presets but you can assign them to MIDI channels or MMC, etc]

The drivers were giving me a bit of grief when I first moved to Vista but the latest update has solved all my problems and I can work all day and night with a 256 sample buffer, which is more than good enough to trigger drums live, from our OctaPad via MIDI.

The downside of these devices? The KB37 only transmits MIDI on Channel 1, so I had to go through and reassign a lot of channels for our live stuff but it was well worth the effort. Neither device has MIDI, so you'll need a separate MIDI device but you can buy a USB MIDI thing, that is basically just a cable, on ebay for around $10. I've had a MIDIsport 1x1 forever, so we just use that.

[dirty oscillators]

i'd recommend the MOTU UltraLite - it's firewire, sounds great, it's really sturdy, and you won't have any problems with it on the road.

[hackenslash]

RME Fireface 400