Please help me choose a very cheap soundcard with midi in and very low latency

[PAUL'C]

Hi all

I am new here and I hope you can help me solve my dilema.
I got only 55 USD (or 40 EUR) to spend on a soundcard (please don't laugh - in my country some people earn this money in 2 weeks) and I can't decide what to buy.
Here is what i want from the soundcard.
- midi in / game port (standard 15 pin)
- low latency (15 ms would be ok, 10 ms would be wonderfull)
- inputs: analog line and mic
- outputs: analog line out
I had a nice ISA ESS1869 "who" served me well-enough 5 years and I "betraied" her by giving her away as a gift to my father-in-law.
With this old card I could play my cheap midi-controller-keyboard (cheapest Terratec available) with a latency of "as little as" 30 ms on my Duron 650 / 320 MB RAM computer.
Now - with my sound chip in my VIAKT133 mobo i cant even configure the latency lower than 100 ms without freezing my PC.
Just to make things clear - I got only 1 cheap pair of computer speakers so I dont need things like 5.1 or more.
If latency is lower when using hardware wavetable, then I might need a sound card with hardware wavetable (?).

Now, here are the alternatives available in my town:
terratec 128 - ESS1938S = 19,50 € = 23,90 $
philips Seismic Edge psc604 = 22,10 € = 27,00 $
creative Live 5.1 Digital = 26,00 € = 31,80 $
creative Audigy LS = 26,00 € = 31,80 $
creative Audigy ES = 27,30 € = 33,40 $
terratec 512i Digital = 31,20 € = 38,10 $
philips Sonic Edge psc605 = 33,80 € = 41,30 $
abit theater 5.1. UA10 = 33,80 € = 41,30 $
terratec DMX Xfire 1024 = 39,00 € = 47,70 $
philips Ultimate Edge psc724 = 44,20 € = 54,00 $
hercules Muse USB = 44,20 € = 54,00 $
herculles Fortissimo III 7.1 = 49,40 € = 60,40 $
terratec Aureon 5.1 Sky = 78,00 € = 95,30 $
creative Audigy 2 bulk = 78,00 € = 95,30 $
creative Audigy 2 ZS = 91,00 € = 111,20 $
m-audio revolution 5.1 = 103,90 € = 127,00 $

These prices are very aproximative but I hope you get the ideea; if i look around i might find a shop a little bit cheaper. The hercules Fortissimo III 7.1 is about the most expensive i could buy right now. For the others, I would have to wait a few weeks.
The problem is i can't test all these cards and usually the computer sellers are not very well informed. They got no damn ideea what lantency means (one of them started to look on the hardchips of a Philips card, trying to find the latency written somewhere ).

I hope some of you had the occasion to work with (at least) some of these cards. Please share your advice!

Regards,
Paul

 

[Dracon]

Hey Paul:

It looks like you already did the leg work of finding out the best soundcards.
I personally like Creative Labs but I don't do MIDI recording.

I would recommend that you go to the Computer Recording & Soundcards forum and ask your question there. Be aware that they are going to ask you what OS you are running, processor speed, and how much RAM you have.

However, for what I can see your old ISA ESS1869 will be blown away by any of the cards you presented here.

 

[PAUL'C]

Thanks Dracon.
I was still wondering which of theses cards has the lowest lantency (doesn't matter the OS - some of them should be faster than others in ANY OS imho).
I'm running a dual boot win98SE / winXP home edition.

I have read a lot on the web and some ppl say Philips are using high CPU so that would mean they have high latency too.

On the other hand, I've read a lot about Creative being not so good and having compatibility problems with my chipset (VIA KT133).

I'm gonna ask in the Computer Recording & Soundcards too, but any oppinions are welcomed here too - cos I'm soooo confused lol...

Thany guys... in advance