Audio card quality relation with latency/performance

[sonicbyte]

Hi,

I would want to know what impact has ordinary external audio interface vs a high-end audio card on a mid-spec computer in terms of audio buffer / latency settings / general performance.

Lets say I don't care audio I/O amount, or the quality of the preamps because I use it just in the digital realm within reason with a midi controller, etc... If I use a normal or low-end card like for instance the Tascam 2x2 on a modest mid-spec computer (8gb ram, i5) and then we test the same but with some fancy RME card on the same computer.
Would it be a noticeable latency/performance improvement ? Or would it be de same ?

Thanks !!

[chimp_spanner]

I can only speak from my own personal experience, but not all *drivers* are created equal. So my main interface is a UR44 (and before that a KA6). Rock solid, low latency, good performance. A while back I thought I'd upgrade to the Roland Studio Capture. Feature loaded, serious looking piece of kit, 3x the price of the UR. But its performance at the same project settings and buffer size as the UR was terrible. Audio dropouts, DSP bar was twitchy, crackling, all sorts.

So, if it can happen in one direction (an upgrade), then it can certainly happen in the other (with cheaper interfaces). Similarly I've seen posts from people using TASCAM or Behringer interfaces who were having problems, even with a decent spec computer. And their problems went away when they changed interface. Again, it's anecdotal but it seems to be a real thing.

All of which is to say, try and get some honest user opinions before you buy anything. Read plenty of reviews. And make sure that wherever you get it from, there's the opportunity to return it. In my case I returned the Studio Capture and went back to the UR. No complaints!

[Przemyslaw]

I have a story when I changed the specification of the computer and the music card at the same time. Old M-audio firewire for the new Motu Firewire and the old i7 processor for the new i7. After changing the computer to the new specification, the old M-Audio card suddenly began to work several times more efficiently in the context of latency and buffer. Then after changing the card on Motu, it turned out that the performance is on a similar level but the specifics of the sound itself has changed.
So if you want better parameters of latency and buffer, invest in most of the resources in the most powerful processor. You will then achieve the maximum performance of the music card itself. It is known that the performance of the cards also differs, from the very point of view of the connection with the computer - pci, usb, firewire, thunderbolt. Added to this is the quality of the controllers. And probably many other factors.

[patrickisbusy]

In terms of Windows, solid drivers are everything. I switched from a UAD Twin that was horribly unstable to a UR22MKII and the difference is staggering. Preamps still sound just fine, but the stability is much better with much lower latency and better performance.

[Arrant]

I am struggling with Reason performance and wondered if it had anything to do with my audio card, since it's a very old E-mu 1820 from around 2005 maybe.
To scratch this itch I recently bought a second-hand RME Fireface UC, swapped out the cards and measured the performance using the benchmark files.

The result: No or only a very slight increase in performance at the same latencies.

To make matters worse, the RME tops out at 2048 samples while my trusty E-mu goes way above that, meaning I can actually get better playback perfomance with the E-mu because I can increase the latency further.

Obviously I sold off the RME again at no cost, saving me a good chunk of money. I'll probably keep the old E-mu until it dies on me now.
So in my experience as long as you have a pretty decent audio interface, you are better off improving other components of your system.

[sonicbyte]

Thanks for all your replies !