An external soundcard

[maudioradium]

Hello,

A year ago I bought an expensive Samsung laptop, it's an Intel i5 but has a standard realtek soundcard.

Can I buy an external soundcard?

I have a midi keyboard if that makes any difference.

- edit - I'm getting a bit of a slow response when I use my keyboard for latency but I can't decrease it in my host because it starts to crack/pop. I was wondering if a external soundcard exists and if it can my situation.

Thanks.

[thecontrolcentre]

There are dozens of external soundcards available. Buy one with ASIO drvers for lower latency.

[RunBeerRun]

Yes, for a laptop you can get either a USB card or firewire, I use the M-Audio Fast Track Pro.

Any normal cheap onboard soundcard that comes with a computer will not be useable at low latencies, because it'll crackle as you've found.

Temporary solution is Asio4all wrapper, not 100% stable in all situations but it is free.

[maudioradium]

Thanks for the hardware suggestions.

It's a shame I can't find one with a midi in port for my keyboard.

I also have a guitar too, and was wondering if there was any ones which featured:
- headphone socket
- midi in for keyboard
- audio port in for electric guitar (with preamp maybe)
- has low latency and has proper sound chip so the crappy realtek rc'97 doesn't do anything

Anyway, if a product like this doesn't exist, I'll settle for one that just deals with the audio like a few of you have mentioned.

I did see this product:
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD Sound Card
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Sound- ... 2_edpp_url

Would this be an appropriate product?

Thanks again.


edit, looks like the fast track pro might be a great solution what wit hits audio in for guitars and microphones too.

I just installed the asio4all driver and that's made a huge difference in latency! Thanks a lot for that.

[RunBeerRun]

Creative cards are to be avoided, the asio driver wasn't made for low latency realtime use, they're made for high quality video game stuff.

I would get either an M-Audio card or Native Instruments, I hear the most about these.

The one I have, M-Audio Fast Track pro has 2 inputs with either xlr or 1/4", MIDI input, phantom power.

[thecontrolcentre]

I can reccomend the NI audio interfaces. I have the AK1 and it has XLR and 1/4 inch mic inputs, line in and hiZ ins, as well 4 audio outputs, with low latency and great sound quality.

[T-CM11]

Thanks for the hardware suggestions.

It's a shame I can't find one with a midi in port for my keyboard.

I also have a guitar too, and was wondering if there was any ones which featured:
- headphone socket
- midi in for keyboard
- audio port in for electric guitar (with preamp maybe)
- has low latency and has proper sound chip so the crappy realtek rc'97 doesn't do anything

Anyway, if a product like this doesn't exist, I'll settle for one that just deals with the audio like a few of you have mentioned.

I did see this product:
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD Sound Card
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Sound- ... 2_edpp_url

Would this be an appropriate product?

Thanks again.


edit, looks like the fast track pro might be a great solution what wit hits audio in for guitars and microphones too.

I just installed the asio4all driver and that's made a huge difference in latency! Thanks a lot for that.

This one worked fine for me:
http://tascam.com/product/us-122mkii/

And don't buy Creative!! (crappy drivers)

[bedjka]

The Focusrite Saffire 6 usb, with midi, is a very good one.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/focusrite_saffire_6_usb.htm