midi keyboard & sound card

U

UNIQNESS

New member
hi.. this is my first post and found this site while i was searching for info on midi keyboards and sound cards..

i noticed there are a lot of categories on this site and didn't really know where to post my issues..

here's the problem:

i bought a M-Audio keystation 61es midi controller keyboard yesterday, and it seems like there's midi latency (delay after pressing keys on my keyboard). so i really can't play a song on the keyboard as i would play on a regular piano. i've been searching for hours to solve this problem and i found out that getting a good sound card might solve this problem (not sure if this is what i need to do to solve the problem). i heard a lot of good things about M-audio audiophile 2496 and was wondering what will happen to my current computer sound setup.. my speakers are currently connected to the sound output port on my motherboard (i don't have a seperate sound card), and i noticed the audiophile 2496 doesn't come with speaker output (for regular computer spears), microphone input, nor line-in input.. i'm currently using all three inputs for my computer and don't know what i will have to do if i do get the sound card.. (i'm assuming the old sound inputs/outputs will stop working once i install the new m-audio sound card)

are there any other solutions to avoid midi latency? would buying a midi interface card solve this problem? what would be the cheapest and most efficient way to fix it?

i'm running a pentium 4 with windows xp if it helps any.. thanks for reading and i'd really appreciate if you guys could help me out..
 
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First thing I would recommend is that you learn what the difference is between inputs (goes-intos) and outputs (goes-out ofs)...

The Audiophile might or might not make a difference to your latency problem (which is really audio latency -- the MIDI comes in through the USB MIDI interface just fine, but the software synth on the computer then has to figure out what it's been asked to do and then do it...

The main issues in what you are describing are:
  • What soundcard do you have? It might or might not have the right drivers available to minimize this latency.
  • What OS is the computer running? Older ones (WIndows 98 and earlier) might not be able to support the right kind of driver or the right version of the host application.
  • What is your host application -- usually a recording program like Cubase or SONAR... older versions won't be able to support low-latency drivers.

The Audiophile, by the way, has two line inputs, two line outputs, a MIDI In and Out, and a digital S/PDIF port, and there is no mic preamp built in so it has no Mic In. The output of a soundcard is usually routed to a standard audio amplifier or a mixing board, then routed to speakers. I have heard of some really cheap sound cards that have an amp circuit with an output that actually drives small non-powered computer speakers, but this is unusual.
 
first of all, i mixed up inputs with outputs.. i was kinda in a hurry and didn't realize what i was typing..

i'm using what came with my motherboard..

this is the description of the audio part of my motherboard:
- 6-Channel AC 97 CODEC on board
- Professional digital audio interface supports S/P DIF optical In/Out

and this is my motherboard:
http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/techspec.php?categories=1&model=79

i already downloaded and installed the latest version of my motherboard sound driver.. i assume it's not good to use what came with my motherboard? would i need to buy a seperate sound card? and since audiophile 2496 doesn't have a mic-in, what will i have to do to use a microphone (a regular mic for computers)? what's digital S/PDIF port? is it same as the ports that come with CD players and mp3 players? (sorry i don't know anything when it comes to this..)

i'm currenty using pentium 4 with windows xp.. and the midi keyboard is connected to my computer via the USB port.. which also works as midi in/out..
 
On-board sound is suitable for learning the ropes but will not be as good as a aftermarket soundcard.

Windows XP supports WDM drivers. But does ABIT supply WDM drivers for the card? They probably say so in the driver description. If you look under the Control Panel, under System > Device Manager, you should be able to see what kind of sound driver it is.

You forgot to tell us what application or applications you are using within which you want to play the keyboard.

S/PDIF is a stereo digital audio interface; the acronym stands for Sony/Phillips Digital Interface. Some CD players and MP3 players might have 'em. They also might be found on MiniDisk recorders and DAT recorders. Unless you have something that uses this type of interface, it'll be more or less useless for you.

To use a microphone, you need a microphone preamp. (Well, of course you need a microphone too). Many home recordists use a mixing board for this purpose (they usually have at least a few channels with mic preamps) as well as generally routing signals into and out of the recorder.
 
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