Generally, USB isn't a good choice for low latency.
Other choices, such as firewire (rather outdated now), thunderbolt or audio-over-ethernet is better.
But it has low cost, of course.
You may be able to get firewire gear used, but watch out, these interfaces are easily zapped/destroyed when connecting live equipment so it may not be the best.
USB is good for recording where latency isn't so important, and where good interfaces (such as the focusrite ones) have monitoring right in the box without any need to go back and forth with the computer. (Perhaps except to add some reverb, that is. The internal mixes in the box are just basic summing and routing.)
For live use, though, I would go for something faster.
Do I really need a dedicated soundcard to remove crackles/pops in my DAW for voice recording?
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- KVRAF
- 4079 posts since 28 Jan, 2011 from MEXICO
Ten years ago this was true.haraldthi wrote:Generally, USB isn't a good choice for low latency.
RME showed it can be done right, their USB interfaces now are as good or even better than the FW ones.
These days Steinberg USB interfaces also offer pretty good drivers. ALso more powerfull processors help to to lower latency.
dedication to flying
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- KVRer
- 2 posts since 25 Mar, 2016
Specialized USB drivers?
You learn something new every day.
USB interfaces you find in computers are mostly passive, meaning they rely heavily on the processor and its drivers to do their thing.
It's the cheapest approach, and most customers don't want to pay for extra hardware doing a job the processor can do (even if it means the processor gets busy and won't be as efficient at other things.)
For most uses, that means a somewhat "lazy" approach that gets the most data out the least processing possible. That means high latency and little accuracy in timing.
But relying on software to do the job also means you can replace the software with something faster and more precise, at the cost of processing.
If you feel you have the processing to spare, it's certainly an option.
Thunderbolt is a serialized PCI-Express bus, and as such very low level and efficient. You can also buy active ethernet interfaces (offloading the processor) specialized for audio use. Both options cost more though, and Thunderbolt isn't easily accessible (yet) on PC hardware.
I'm sure RME makes good interfaces, and may buy something from them one day. But I wouldn't call them "low cost", as they do know how to charge for the quality they provide. As I've been reading the thread, low cost is important.
It's good to learn something new, though.
You learn something new every day.
USB interfaces you find in computers are mostly passive, meaning they rely heavily on the processor and its drivers to do their thing.
It's the cheapest approach, and most customers don't want to pay for extra hardware doing a job the processor can do (even if it means the processor gets busy and won't be as efficient at other things.)
For most uses, that means a somewhat "lazy" approach that gets the most data out the least processing possible. That means high latency and little accuracy in timing.
But relying on software to do the job also means you can replace the software with something faster and more precise, at the cost of processing.
If you feel you have the processing to spare, it's certainly an option.
Thunderbolt is a serialized PCI-Express bus, and as such very low level and efficient. You can also buy active ethernet interfaces (offloading the processor) specialized for audio use. Both options cost more though, and Thunderbolt isn't easily accessible (yet) on PC hardware.
I'm sure RME makes good interfaces, and may buy something from them one day. But I wouldn't call them "low cost", as they do know how to charge for the quality they provide. As I've been reading the thread, low cost is important.
It's good to learn something new, though.
Last edited by haraldthi on Sun Mar 27, 2016 2:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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thecontrolcentre thecontrolcentre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=76240 - KVRAF
- 37262 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from Scottish Borders
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- KVRAF
- 2990 posts since 13 Apr, 2008 from Charleston, SC
The issue of a single pop or crackle for every 8 minutes...why is anyone talking ASIO?
My guess is you need to disable wifi or make sure your mic is using a USB port that is on the computer and nothing else is attached.
You are getting results that you would get with a high end card if you had USB or wifi issues interrupting the sound.
My guess is you need to disable wifi or make sure your mic is using a USB port that is on the computer and nothing else is attached.
You are getting results that you would get with a high end card if you had USB or wifi issues interrupting the sound.