RE: laptop audio I/O hardware

["jeff larson" <jeff.larson@sailpoint.com>]

> From: Jeff Kaiser
> The buffers are set in the DSP options of the application itself. They

> remained the same.
> 
> Could the driver itself change the CPU load? Would that 
> affect latency? 

A driver can cause more CPU load, but that does not necessarily
affect latency.  Latency is defined by the buffer size.  If your
buffer size is 256 samples, then your latency is 5.8 milliseconds, 
period.  It doesn't matter what hardware interface you are using,
if the buffer size is 256 your latency is 5.8 milliseconds, always
and forever.

What increased CPU load can do is cause you to "miss interrupts"
because the computer can't keep up with requests from the audio
interface.  This will sound like clicks or noise.  So while a
particular driver may require more CPU, if you are not hearing any
clicks it doesn't matter, it is still operating within the latency
defined by the buffer size.

Jeff