Re: Low Lantecy Soundcard for Laptop Gig

[scott@dreamstate.to]

Just wanted to be another voice of admiration for the Indigo series
of sound cards. I have one of each and even though I use a Presonus Firebox
in my studio now, I always have a (tiny) Indigo IO and/or DJ in my laptop
bag ready to go (and ready as a backup). I've never had problems with the
jacks yet and recommend looking for a short male 1/8 to two RCA adapter
with gold plating. Support the connection on the tabletop if you can.
I worry more about the little firewire connector that goes to my Firebox.
BTW - I often see the Indigos at music store clearances at very good 
prices.

Photo of laptop w Indigo & pair of small Altec/Lansing powered speakers
at the waterfront of a cottage we rented last year. Mmmmmm portable. :)
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3593/1204/1600/working%20Aug%2006.04.jpg

Cheers,
Scott M2

http://www.dreamSTATE.to
ambientelectronicsoundscapes
http://www.THEAMBiENTPiNG.com

>> You guys keep mentioning the
>> RME Fireface 400 and RME Fireface 800.
>>
>> They look incredible but, man,  it takes my breath away to see
>> what these things cost!  $700 and $1200,
>> respectively.................argggggghhh!
>
> ...
>
>> Any other alternatives besides the really pricey soundcards?
>>
>
> Yup..
>
> Echo Indigo IO is a good option, if you're comfortable with only 2-ins
> 2-outs and if you have a CardBus slot on your laptop. You also get a 
>lower
> latency than is possible with Firewire bus (I run at 64 sample latency, 
>32
> is possible). The downside with the Indigo IO is the poor 1/8" jacks that
> tend to become finnicky after some wear. I've already had 2 replacements
> shipped out from Echo.
>
> For live instrumental work, I really feel that 1-2 ms latency is about 
>the
> upper limit of what I'm willing to accept. Companies these days are 
>saying
> 5-10 ms is fine, but as a piano player I can feel the difference even 
>with
> a couple milliseconds of delay. So I have shyed away from Macbook with 
>its
> lack of CardBus support. Firewire just doesn't seem to be built for
> ultra-low latency performance (that's my opinion).
>
> Another CardBus option that looks good is the Digigram VX Pocket series
> (V2 or V440, at around $400-500).
>
> I'd be interested to hear what RME Fireface users are getting in terms of
> real-world latencies (in-out).
>
> You can get cheaper firewire and USB audio interfaces, but my impression
> is that the low latency performance is not as good. RME is known for
> having great latency performance.
>
> Cheers,
> -Mercury