Interface(s) with the lowest latency

R

rimisrandma

Guest
In the manual, the RME Fireface 800 has a latency spec of being less than 1 ms. The REM Fireface 400 is not far behind and still reported under 1 ms. Is this the least latency and fastest interfaces on the market?? Are there any "guy in a bedroom" scaled down models with this same performance because the Fireface 400 and 800 are a little much for the bedroom studio guy and are more at home in a pro recording studio environment despite the really good performance rating.
 
Will you just buy an interface already. All the ones in your price range are effectively the same with slightly different features. Just pick one that looks good.

Every couple weeks you post some other thread about firewire versus USB - SS drives versus traditional hard drives, etc. etc. Doing research is a good thing but it seems to me that you are taking it to such as extreme that you are never going to make a decision.

Are you trying to decide what interface to buy or are you just throwing up topics for discussion purely for curiosity?

If you are trying to decide on which one to buy, just post the ones you are deciding between and ask for opinions about them.

And they don't usually measure latency in increments smaller than a millisecond so 1 would be the fastest... It's a thousandth of a second - you get more latency being 10 feet away fron the speaker.
 
I'm guessing this is the actual hardware latency?

It's not really going to matter that much, the software latency is almost certainly going to be much greater.

Plus in 1ms sound travels 1.13', so you're introducing just as much delay by placing the mic a foot away from the source for example.
 
Will you just buy an interface already. All the ones in your price range are effectively the same with slightly different features. Just pick one that looks good.

Every couple weeks you post some other thread about firewire versus USB - SS drives versus traditional hard drives, etc. etc. Doing research is a good thing but it seems to me that you are taking it to such as extreme that you are never going to make a decision.

Are you trying to decide what interface to buy or are you just throwing up topics for discussion purely for curiosity?

If you are trying to decide on which one to buy, just post the ones you are deciding between and ask for opinions about them.

And they don't usually measure latency in increments smaller than a millisecond so 1 would be the fastest... It's a thousandth of a second - you get more latency being 10 feet away fron the speaker.

No doubt man. Pull the trigger and start recording for sake of sanity alone! Latency can be dealt with. Much easier to do when you actually have it to deal with. :spank:
 
Will you just buy an interface already. All the ones in your price range are effectively the same with slightly different features. Just pick one that looks good.

Every couple weeks you post some other thread about firewire versus USB - SS drives versus traditional hard drives, etc. etc. Doing research is a good thing but it seems to me that you are taking it to such as extreme that you are never going to make a decision.

Are you trying to decide what interface to buy or are you just throwing up topics for discussion purely for curiosity?

If you are trying to decide on which one to buy, just post the ones you are deciding between and ask for opinions about them.

And they don't usually measure latency in increments smaller than a millisecond so 1 would be the fastest... It's a thousandth of a second - you get more latency being 10 feet away fron the speaker.

Thanks for noticing, this is motivating me.

"are you just throwing up topics for discussion purely for curiosity?"---> both

So, is the Fireface 400 and 800 the fastest.....i.e. lowest latency interfaces? I would prefer something a bit smaller in firewire. Like the apogee duet 1 firewire with more of the duet 2 specs. If RME had a firewire babyface, it would be bought and in transit to my house. I want a low latency, firewire, instrument in with a stereo line level pair in interface with a headphone and monitor out, all with volume/trim knobs, interface. Does this exist.

I looked at Motu Audio Express, TC electronics Impact twin, and the presonus firestudio mobile...................something about each gives me that feeling that maybe I didn't notice I was eating a hot dog that had veins in it. The Duets 2 and babyface are usb....I just don't want it.

I plan to buy 2 thunderbolt 7200 rpm external hard drives from lacie, so I want to run firewire for my interface. Usb will be for my mouse and an external usb flash drive to store my uploaded cd collection on.

Also, most usb interfaces are bus-powered and I just don't want power hi-jacked from my MBP. Say what you will, I just don't like it. Over time it just burns jacks up a lot faster and I preferred a self powered unit. Things like the duet 2 have apower supply, but then you are powering it up as well as forcing power back through the usb port.
 
Make sure you are clear about the difference between USB and USB2.0 interfaces. USB 1.0 devices are way limited. The latter is just as viable as firewire in most situations regarding audio. I use a $300 Tascam US1641 USB2.0 and record 16 tracks at once with absolutely no issues regarding latency or dropouts. I can get under 10ms of latency recording vocals while monitoring through Cubase with a sh*t ton of effects and 40 tracks running. My PC is quite hefty though. If you want less latency than that with a lesser computer, then purchase an interface with built in DSP so that you can monitor recording tracks with effects. Otherwise, I do not see a reason to worry so much about latency. It is just something we all work with. Not so much if your PC/MAC is powerful.
 
Also, most usb interfaces are bus-powered and I just don't want power hi-jacked from my MBP. Over time it just burns jacks up a lot faster and I preferred a self powered unit.

Are you saying the interface gets power via USB? I guess maybe they exists but I have never seen one or used one. Every USB interface I have ever used has it's own power supply. On another note I have used dozens of USB devices and have never burned up a jack on anything.

But really I don't care - if you prefer firewire get firewire...

You are going to be limited if you are trying to purchase a little mini interface with two inputs.
 
Plus in 1ms sound travels 1.13', so you're introducing just as much delay by placing the mic a foot away from the source for example.

EXACTLY!

NO human being can detect latency this low.
Cranking it down below your threshold only stresses the computer and gains you NOTHING.

It's not a pissing match....
 
Back
Top