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oem soundcard w/ asio4all vs. pro interface performance on budget PC laptop

Discussion in 'Recording Gear and Equipment [BG]' started by amos, Apr 17, 2012.

  1. Apr 17, 2012 #1
    amos

    amos

    Oct 23, 2003
    SE Portland Oregon
    in Reaper I run stable at 512 samples using Asio4all low-latency drivers with my onboard oem soundcard. With a nice audio interface like Motu Ultralite or RME Fireface400/800, can I expect much better performance given my computer's specs?

    Acer laptop Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0Ghz, 3GB Ram, Windows XP 32-bit

    I'm concerned that given my laptop's modest specs, I won't be able to get any better performance with RME/Motu asio drivers than with my current ones, forcing me to upgrade my laptop.

    I don't enjoy recording using a computer enough to warrant buying a new computer for it. I'd rather put the money into an analog or HD24 setup, do it old school style with analog mixing and outboard processing, only use the laptop for 2-track stereo recording from the board at mixdown. And yes, I realize the limitations of this.
     
  2. Apr 17, 2012 #2
    seamonkey

    seamonkey

    Aug 6, 2004
    UNITED States of America
    If your DAW software only supports ASIO then
    ASIO4ALL creates a bridge connection from ASIO to WDM/KS drivers for your onboard sound.

    If your DAW software directly accesses WDM/KS then you can skip the ASIO4ALL and directly use WDM/KS

    If your DAW software only supports ASIO, then you "should" get better performance with the ASIO drivers supplied with your new external interface.

    If your DAW support WDM/KS it should connect up to your external interface also.
    The difference between ASIO and WDM/KS is with ASIO you normally only get to use one interface at a time. With WDM/KS you can use multiple sources and outputs.

    Personally, I find ASIO all I usually need. It is the most straight forward to use. And easy to adjust.

    Try tuning your system with dpc latency checker
    DPC Latency Checker

    Read the whole page.

    Also search google for XP DAW tuning
    XP should be fine but take all the garbage off.
     
  3. Apr 19, 2012 #3
    MNAirHead

    MNAirHead

    Nov 22, 2008
    Minnesota - Twin Cities
    Really depends on your mission

    Using an ultralight the processing is done right on the interface - only reaper is really taxing the laptop

    What are you trying to accomplish exactly
     
  4. Apr 19, 2012 #4
    amos

    amos

    Oct 23, 2003
    SE Portland Oregon
    eh, from answers I've got here and on gearslutz, I'm pretty sure it'll be good enough for my applications. MPC, bass, and synth mostly. The laptop is pretty clean. one thing I've read is its good to have a computer dedicated to recording. While my XP lappy isn't cluttered with junk, it might good to put together a desktop strictly for recording. Then if I wanted I could upgrade to a super low latency PCIe system later down the line.