usb interface

O

oz_fenda

New member
Hi, i'll try and make my question as short as possible :P

I'm thinking of getting something like an M-Audio Fast track pro or maybe something similar and basically want to know a) can i use it as a normal soundcard, effectively replacing the internal one? and

b)is there a limit to the amount of tracks it (or similar lower end usb interfaces) can output simultaneously in a DAW session? Does the usb factor mean if i use say around 10-15 tracks (combined audio + midi driven by whatever software synth/instruments I get with whatever software I end up getting) it'll be stoppy starty and glitchy as all hell?
I'll only ever be recording one source through it as I'm planning on getting a midi keyboard that uses usb so the inputs shouldn't be a problem in that regard.

Atm I'm just recording through a cheap behri mixer into the built in pc soundcard (everybody flinches lol) and in all honesty the quality of my recordings hasn't really bothered me too much for what I've been doing so unless I'm wrong in assuming the quality of my recordings is going to get worse with a usb interface, i'm not too bothered about it not having the best pre's or anything. I guess I'm looking to get a better soundcard as I know midi instruments will be more powerful and standard crappy soundcard probably won't cut it anymore. (plus I've got abit of cash now lol)

And here's my saying I'd try and keep it short.... any help would be muchly appreciated, cheers
 
ok cool cheers mate. I'm buying some new stuff computer wise so I'll probably have at least a 2ghz processor and 1024mb ram, and I'll probably go with something like cubase or whatever else I can find that is easy to use with midi instruments so I should be right in that regard. I was just checking incase sending 15 channels of descent quality audio through a usb cable was expecting a little too much. thanks again :)
 
oz_fenda said:
ok cool cheers mate. I'm buying some new stuff computer wise so I'll probably have at least a 2ghz processor and 1024mb ram, and I'll probably go with something like cubase or whatever else I can find that is easy to use with midi instruments so I should be right in that regard. I was just checking incase sending 15 channels of descent quality audio through a usb cable was expecting a little too much. thanks again :)
Click to expand...

No Worries :)

Actually - 15 channels are not actually sent to the USB card. Your software (cubase, etc) will only send as many outputs as the audio card has. For example if you have Left and Right output on the sound card, cubase will only send the Left and Right signals to it. All the mixing is done in the PC itself before it travels down the USB cable.
 
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh *feels like mystery of the universe has been revealed* lol i understand now.... sorry to be a pain but dya reckon a 2ghz processor and a gig of ram would be adequate for 15 channels? I'd usually use less than 10 but just incase I go nuts or something...

thanks again cheers
 
oz_fenda said:
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh *feels like mystery of the universe has been revealed* lol i understand now.... sorry to be a pain but dya reckon a 2ghz processor and a gig of ram would be adequate for 15 channels? I'd usually use less than 10 but just incase I go nuts or something...

thanks again cheers
Click to expand...

It depends entirely on what you are doing with those 15 channels. If each channel is a virtual instrument with samples, etc, then it might be a bit slow. If each channel is recorded audio with 2 or 3 inserts and maybe an effects channel then you should be perfectly ok.

You can get fast and slow 2Ghz processors. I have a 2.4GHz in my PC but its a few years old and the 2.2Ghz's that are being released today just destroy it - so there is generally more to it than just the speed.

I think you should be fine in most cases.
 
Using USB may bring your maximum track count down slightly due to the extra CPU overhead, but the effect should be negligible.

What I would not recommend doing is buying a USB interface that has lots of inputs and outputs. I would suggest no more than four analog inputs/outputs for reliability reasons. With some hardware, you can get away with more, but it can be a bit of a crapshoot.

Oh, and using a USB hard drive is right out. The latency is too high, and the CPU overhead is way, way, way, way, way too high.
 
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