I'm thinking of making music again, but I'm rather out of date...

Want to talk about music hardware or software that doesn't include Reason?
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epichouse
Posts: 29
Joined: 25 Aug 2019

13 Jan 2022

Hi all, I was just hoping to bounce some ideas around in here and wondered what peoples thoughts may be on some stuff I'm thinking about doing.

In my 20s and early 30's I used to try and make music. I can't say I was much good at it, but I was seriously keen and tried my best. I made some half-decent stuff, I almost had a remix of Pianoman's "Blurred" signed to Rumour Records - but it was mostly just for my own entertainment, I never had plans to be popular or famous.

I'd always struggled with Cubase and Nuendo, I got on with Cakewalk back in the late 90s but back then there were no VSTi's and it was a pain to get things working. I discovered Reason and loved it. I made most of my stuff in it.

I own a Quasimidi Sirius, but in all honesty, I sucked at it and it ended up being mostly used as an input keyboard to play VSTis and Rack Extensions.

Then it all got too much for my computer to handle, it kept flaking out. Over time, my Sirius has got keys that no longer work, which makes doing anything a bit infuriating.

After about a decade of depression, no longer making anything, buying my first house and being preoccupied with other things, I'd lost all interest and enthusiasm and had forgotten how to do about 80% of the stuff I used to do and I've forgotten how to bash out stuff on my keyboard, which still doesn't work right.

I bought Reason 10 when it came out, hoping to spark a new interest - but with the computer being unable to cope well, latency problems, the not-working keys on the Sirius, the spark didn't last long and I haven't even opened the program for years now.

I'm thinking of giving it another go - but this time, I'm thinking it may help me to have some "hands on" controls and some actual synth/instruments in order to try and make what I'm interested in making.

What am I interested in making? To be honest, it is "progressive house" of the sort from the early to late 1990's, acid-house, classic style trance. I'm dead keen on some of the sounds on the Platipus Records releases from this time, as well as the likes of tunes played by Sasha, Digweed, from these kinds of times - an indeed, some of the new acid-house and deep-house/techno stuff that's coming out at the moment.

On this score, I really fancy buying at least two of the new Behringer 303 clones. One normal, one with the mods included. I love the sound, I think I'd do better with something in my hand than on the screen - and I think I'd need at least two running at the same time to recreate the kinds of tunes I'm looking at.

I also want to look at controllers and "sound cards" for a new laptop. I've been studying these for days now, but I'm still unsure of what to aim for.

The Nektar P4 seems the most recommended - but it is about 10 years old now and I'm wary about it. The T4 seems okay, but is there really that much difference to the new Impact 49+? There's also the P1, but again, would it really be worth it if I have to also buy a keyboard too?

I may be able to get the Sirius fixed somewhere and use that via midi as the controller, but, I suspect it could get expensive, that the LX 49+ would be a similar cost of a repair and that the LX or T4 etc would be better to control more of Reason.

In terms of "sound cards" - I'm really out of date. They all seem to be "interfaces" now. But are they the same thing?

I am looking for something to plug into a new laptop and provide me with good sound and, more importantly, cope with running lots of Reason instruments and have near-zero latency. I will probably also be using it to put a DJ set-up (technics 1210s and a Numark mixer) through, so I can record through the USB connection.

I also have a Pioneer DDJ Ergo collecting dust and a copy of Traktor DJ software, which I assume would use the "interface" as its "sound card" device to achieve low latency and help the computer process that kind of data...

Is this what these interfaces do now?

At the moment therefore, my minds eye is on:

2 x Behringer 303 clones (one with the mods, one standard).
Arturia MiniFuse 2 interface
Nektar Impact LX 49+
Reason 10 (if I can still get it to load when I change my computer!).

I'm really unsure about how I'd get the 303 clones into a song.

I'm assuming it would be converted into midi data, rather than having to record actual audio and cut it up, so that all the tweaks and instructions are there permanently saved with the song file.

I'm also assuming that I will be able to add more 303's with software versions, along with 909 and 808 drum kits or replicas in VSTi's, to achieve that notorious acid house and progressive sound.

I'm basically coming back into this from scratch, like a toddler learning how to walk (again).

Would my choices thus far be a mistake?

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Billy+
Posts: 4157
Joined: 09 Dec 2016

13 Jan 2022

First thing I would suggest is to be sure that you are able to access your Reason account.

If you're interested in getting hardware synths drums etc what's your budget.

epichouse
Posts: 29
Joined: 25 Aug 2019

13 Jan 2022

Budget-wise, that's a bit of a hard one to answer.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford some decent gear - but I also balk at the idea of wasting too much money on what could be a mistake or a fad that doesn't last (ie, I am still ending up rubbish, uninspired, or not as interested as I hope I will be.

I do CAD design work for a job, so I am planning to get a workstation level laptop capable of running latest 3d design softwares, which I was hoping would be able to easily handle Reason. The internal soundcard in a laptop may be a bit rubbish and not designed for music production - but this is where I think an "audio interface" may do its work (?) so that the internal soundcard is either improved in capability or bypassed altogether for something more 'music production' ready.

I am assuming that such a purchase would be at least £1200 for the laptop, with the intent of it lasting a good 10 years like the HP Envy DV7 I am currently using. I consider a computer upgrade to be worth it after all this time and a bit of an investment for the future, in terms of how I tend to spend a lot of time on a computer in general and how I aim to keep up-to-date a bit more with my design career by learning newer programs.

When it comes to hobbies and dabbling with music, this is where it gets tricky, as stated.

Do I need a production-ready level keyboard interface that can be used well at a live gig etc? No. Not really. However, if the Nektar P4 is still unrivalled in its integration and controlling of Reason, kills a few birds with one stone, I may be able to justify it to myself.

Otherwise, if the LX49+ or T4 are more than good enough for my needs, I'm not sure I could justify spending another £200 or more on a P4 or P1 in comparison.

What worries me about the P4 is that it is at least 10 years old, maybe more, and I hear that the keyboard on the T4 is better, the pads are better and that the Impact 49+ is not that far behind the T4. With the P4 getting so old,I worry about Nektar soon ditching it for something new, or, making some kind of new version, then I'd be really annoyed at spending such a lot of money on an old device.

With the sound interface, I think the sub £140 price of the Arturia is feasible - particularly as it connects with USB and has MIDI In/OUT, which could be handy if I ever get my Sirius fixed, and is perhaps a good idea for attaching the Behringer 303's (?) - I don't fully understand how I am going to set everything up to work together yet.

I think the Behringer 303 clones are good value for money. I'd like a 909 clone too, but I think I'd suffice with VST's / Kong, etc for drums to be honest. I don't think I could justify the outlay for a drum machine if this ends up being a fad.

So far, the Behringer Mod version of the 303 clone is £200.
The normal one is about £90. That's of course £290 together.
The LX49+ is about £120 at the moment.
The Arturia MiniFuse 2 is about £130.
The laptop, I assume, will be around £1200.

So that's about £1740 to £1800 by the time I've added postage or cables or whatever.

I could round it up to £2000 if it is worth a better Nektar interface, or to add on the P1 module interface to the Impact 49+ instead of a P4.

I don't think I could justify all that much more on trying this hobby out again, in case it just never gets used.

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Billy+
Posts: 4157
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13 Jan 2022

Well it sounds like you have a plan but if you're after using hardware then you're going to need a better audio device something with enough inputs for the hardware so I would suggest that the current choice won't be usable.

You're also not listing any speakers? And a decent set will start pushing your budget up!

You could grab a virtual 303 RE version which is fairly good try sticking with just a virtual setup for a few months and see how you feel before investing more.

But as things stand I would definitely suggest that a better audio io is needed and speakers are a must.

PhillipOrdonez
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13 Jan 2022

Interfaces are only useful if you use studio monitors and need to record audio into the computer from an instrument. You do need the inputs to record the gear you plan on buying so yeah, you need an interface.

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bxbrkrz
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13 Jan 2022




Wow... What a beast! :thumbup:

If you can you should try the Nektar keybed in a store and see if you like the feeling, and compare it to your (broken) Sirius. I almost bought a P4 the year it was released, but did not like the mushy way it felt to me. Some users here are big Nektar P4/P6 fans, I am sure they could help you decide. It would be better to budget for an audio interface with midi I/Os, with a solid reputation for solid drivers and support for 10+ years.
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epichouse
Posts: 29
Joined: 25 Aug 2019

13 Jan 2022

In regards to speakers / monitors, I have some that I use for the turntables and DJ mixer. They are Kali Audio LP6's - and my thoughts were to somehow get an output back into my DJ mixer from the interface or the output jack on the laptop.

I don't think I plan to record any actual instruments like a real musician would (ie, guitars, piano, drums or vocals etc).

As far as I can remember, back in the olden days (lol), when a computer's sound card was rubbish, you bought something like a "Soundblaster Audigy" breakout box, to both plug things into and which then became registered in the computer as a sound device. This was then set as the default recording/sound card and gave you lower latency when playing virtual instruments.

This is what I am assuming these interface boxes do.....or have I got that wrong, and I somehow need to find or make sure there's a decent "sound card" I can attach via USB to do this job if the inbuilt card is a bit below par?

I am thinking that, say, I'd connect the interface to the laptop. The DJ decks would be connected to the interface. The behringer or Bheringers would be connected to MIDI on the interface (and connected to each other?), and that an output would be routed back to the DJ mixer for playback out of the Kali Audio speakers.

I'm assuming that I could program some 303 lines on the Behringer, turn that into MIDI into Reason, edit it and play around in Reason and/or the knobs on the device, all recording the events to a MIDI "CC" data line so in the distant future I can play it back exactly as I first wanted it to be, if I return to listening to or editing the track.

I'm assuming I can do a bassline on one 303, then a main riff on the other 303 and tweak the dials on both as necessary and that everything kick-starts where it ought to in relation to the arrangement, Kong, etc.

I am assuming too that if I get another 303 running in a rack extension, that I would be able to twist the cut-off, resonance, etc on the LX49+ control knobs just like I would on the Behringer clones.

I'm a bit flaky on just what I want to do, how it would link up together, whether it is justified to get more hardware - or to just use RE's and use a controller to tweak knobs on those.

In the past I soon get tired of playing around with mice and flicking through endless patches on instruments, as nothing seems to ever get done. This is why I'm currently thinking of going to hardware, particularly with the 303's, so that I am physically getting to grips with learning it, tweaking it, with it being more fixed in its scope, recreating the "old days" a bit more and hopefully being a bit more focussed and authentic to the kind of music I want to make as a result.

Or maybe that's all nonsense, and I'm just hoping that with hardware I'd have more fun and success in creativity than always being software orientated?

I'm thinking that if I return to trying to make music, I may need a change to what I was doing before, to start and learn from scratch, to abandon any old ways I got stuck in a rut with, and that hardware may force this to happen. Or, am I just trying to justify it to myself?! I don't know!

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integerpoet
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13 Jan 2022

Just a quick note from Captain Pedantic about terminology…

The term "sound card" lasted a lot longer that it had any right to. It came from the era of inserting a circuit board into a desktop computer by means of an edge connector, with another edge of the board partially exposed outside the computer. That was the only game in town for a while. Since then, USB and other sufficiently fast transports arrived, and it makes no sense to refer to one of the cute little boxes they make possible as a "sound card", but people did it for many years anyway.

"Interface" is general enough to encompass external devices as well as internal ones, though it is vexingly vague and used for many other things. For that reason, I recommend saying "audio interface" if there's any possibility of ambiguity.

epichouse
Posts: 29
Joined: 25 Aug 2019

13 Jan 2022

bxbrkrz wrote:
13 Jan 2022



Wow... What a beast! :thumbup:

If you can you should try the Nektar keybed in a store and see if you like the feeling, and compare it to your (broken) Sirius. I almost bought a P4 the year it was released, but did not like the mushy way it felt to me. Some users here are big Nektar P4/P6 fans, I am sure they could help you decide. It would be better to budget for an audio interface with midi I/Os, with a solid reputation for solid drivers and support for 10+ years.
The Arturia minifuse 2 has the MIDI and the USB connectivity, the reviews I have seen so far have been excellent, which has really made me sway to that -or are you talking about the controller interface? Most of those only seem to have USB and no MIDI ports, I think.

Yeah, the Sirius was a beast at the time. I bought it when it first came out. Over time, some of the sounds it produces were a bit "samey-samey" and could get a bit boring, but, as I have found out since, its more that I was simply rubbish, had no idea what I was doing, how to play it properly or manipulate it to its potential. Quite honestly, it was wasted on me!

Listen to JayB's use of it, the sounds he made and the music he managed to get out of it. It's insane. It really puts me and my efforts to shame. I could only dream of making stuff this good or making it sound this good!:


Hoboys
Posts: 158
Joined: 19 Oct 2021
Location: Kyiv

13 Jan 2022

Hah! Went the same route myself.

I think getting hardware outside of the basics - headphones, audio interface and a midi controller (why not Nektar t4 by the way?) - would be an unnecessary waste of your money, time and effort.

Hardware 303 is just a fetish at this point, unless you're planning on making a living off of making acid tracks every day. You can get that sound in Reason in 3 clicks. If you need a piece of equipment to fetishize over and feel good about when working, better put that extra money into the laptop, headphones, midi controller or the audio interface. Seeing as you never mentioned buying a microphone, I;m guessing you're into making electronic music without vocals, so an audio interface with a nice preamp is not needed - a very basic one will do just fine. I'd go with the Focusrite Scarlett though, because if you DO ever want to record some vocals, of all the cheap interfaces, that one at least has a combination of a passable pre-amp and low noise.

This leaves you with either headphones, laptop or a controller to spend additional money on.
For a controller that's "in the middle" I'd go with Nektar T4. The key bed is better in T4 than in P4, the pads are the same, the faders and knobs are garbage, but you can swap them out for pennies with third-party replacements, so in the end it's sliiiightly better keys of T4 (which are also cheaper) vs better display, the one motorized fader and the overall better quality feel of the P4.

"Cheap" headphones are easy - beyerdynamics DT 770 PRO are your only option. Cheaper AKGs sound like soap and Sennheisers sound nice, but the build quality is garbage. I've had 5 pairs of various sh's and NOT ONE lasted over half a year and every time someone came along and convinced me I "wasn't lucky" with the ones I got or some such bs. The last ones I bought at the official store in Munich, a mistake I won't be making again.

Feels like you want a fresh start, so I'd advise against using the Sirius. Re-firing those dormant synapses can bog you down and kill the thrill quickly. Maybe sell it as is or fix it only to put it in a box to sell as vintage in 15-20 years. Who knows, maybe you'll make some money off of it :)

Best of luck and have fun with your re-discovered passion!

epichouse
Posts: 29
Joined: 25 Aug 2019

13 Jan 2022

integerpoet wrote:
13 Jan 2022
Just a quick note from Captain Pedantic about terminology…

The term "sound card" lasted a lot longer that it had any right to. It came from the era of inserting a circuit board into a desktop computer by means of an edge connector, with another edge of the board partially exposed outside the computer. That was the only game in town for a while. Since then, USB and other sufficiently fast transports arrived, and it makes no sense to refer to one of the cute little boxes they make possible as a "sound card", but people did it for many years anyway.

"Interface" is general enough to encompass external devices as well as internal ones, though it is vexingly vague and used for many other things. For that reason, I recommend saying "audio interface" if there's any possibility of ambiguity.
Indeed, I know I am very out of date. This is why I am getting confused as to just what things do now.

As far as I recall, you got something like an Audigy, or a Lexicon Omega, it had drivers, it had ASIO, and such actually replaced the internal sound cards and allowed more capacity for audio work and provided lower latency on VSTi's.

I don't tend to see much in the way about drivers, ASIO, processing capacities, or whatever, with regards to all these interface boxes. So that's my confusion. Is it a "sound card" in terms of having or replicating these things - or, is it simply a semi-dumb box that you just connect your gear into in order to route it through your computer's existing sound chip for processing the audio (for want of a better description)? I don't really know what I'm talking about any more, I know!

Hoboys
Posts: 158
Joined: 19 Oct 2021
Location: Kyiv

13 Jan 2022

You are spot on and not out of date at all. An audio interface is exactly this, a combination of
epichouse wrote:
13 Jan 2022
drivers,ASIO, and such actually replaced the internal sound cards and allowed more capacity for audio work and provided lower latency
AND this
epichouse wrote:
13 Jan 2022
a semi-dumb box that you just connect your gear into in order to route it through your computer
It can also have additional bells and whistles, like pre-amps, built-in compressors, DSPs... but this really shouldn't bother you if you're going to make electronic music.

epichouse
Posts: 29
Joined: 25 Aug 2019

13 Jan 2022

Hoboys wrote:
13 Jan 2022
Hah! Went the same route myself.

I think getting hardware outside of the basics - headphones, audio interface and a midi controller (why not Nektar t4 by the way?) - would be an unnecessary waste of your money, time and effort.

Hardware 303 is just a fetish at this point, unless you're planning on making a living off of making acid tracks every day. You can get that sound in Reason in 3 clicks. If you need a piece of equipment to fetishize over and feel good about when working, better put that extra money into the laptop, headphones, midi controller or the audio interface. Seeing as you never mentioned buying a microphone, I;m guessing you're into making electronic music without vocals, so an audio interface with a nice preamp is not needed - a very basic one will do just fine. I'd go with the Focusrite Scarlett though, because if you DO ever want to record some vocals, of all the cheap interfaces, that one at least has a combination of a passable pre-amp and low noise.

This leaves you with either headphones, laptop or a controller to spend additional money on.
For a controller that's "in the middle" I'd go with Nektar T4. The key bed is better in T4 than in P4, the pads are the same, the faders and knobs are garbage, but you can swap them out for pennies with third-party replacements, so in the end it's sliiiightly better keys of T4 (which are also cheaper) vs better display, the one motorized fader and the overall better quality feel of the P4.

"Cheap" headphones are easy - beyerdynamics DT 770 PRO are your only option. Cheaper AKGs sound like soap and Sennheisers sound nice, but the build quality is garbage. I've had 5 pairs of various sh's and NOT ONE lasted over half a year and every time someone came along and convinced me I "wasn't lucky" with the ones I got or some such bs. The last ones I bought at the official store in Munich, a mistake I won't be making again.

Feels like you want a fresh start, so I'd advise against using the Sirius. Re-firing those dormant synapses can bog you down and kill the thrill quickly. Maybe sell it as is or fix it only to put it in a box to sell as vintage in 15-20 years. Who knows, maybe you'll make some money off of it :)

Best of luck and have fun with your re-discovered passion!
Thanks for that. I may have to have a re-think about what my plans are and what I expect to happen.

I have been watching all kinds of demos of the 303 clones on Youtube, and they do look and sound fantastic. Some in particular are making the exact kind of tunes I want to make, have the 909 rigged up too, and they're making solid tracks just with three pieces of gear.

That makes it so tempting - being forced to use them, having direct control, having no latency issues or whatever, and a crisp authentic sound. The features on the modded version are also brilliant - I'm not sure I'd be able to do some of that in software versions of a 303. Perhaps you can. I haven't really studied the possibilities.

But you may be right. Perhaps a controller unit like the P1 or T4 could give me the same thing using AudioRealism Bassline VST or the Roland 303 rack extension or something.

I could look at trying to take the Sirius somewhere to fix the few dodgy keys and once again use that as my keyboard input. Perhaps it would be a waste not to.... but, at the same time, if the LX49+ is better integrated, it may end up costing less to buy that than fix the keyboard. I don't really know. I'm not sure that there's many places in the Northwest of England that I think I could take it to for a cheap fix, especially as it is quite a unique synth.

The Arturia interface is currently being touted as better than the Focusrite or at least equal to it. It has both MIDI and USB connectivity and the same 192 spec and low-noise thresholds etc.

My ears are possibly a bit thrashed. I have a bit of tinnitus and I struggle to discern things like I used to when I was younger.

I find this to be the case even when trying to DJ too, in terms of trying to listen carefully to which record is slipping ahead or behind time slightly when doing a long mix of two records. It gets kind of muddy and hard for my ears and brain to process sometimes. I think some better training and getting used to making music again may help focus my ears a bit more, but otherwise, I tend to have cloth-ears at the moment, not producer / mastering ears.

My DJ headphones, some old Sony ones based on Pioneers, have been really good and I think I'd just continue to use those for time being.

I'm trying to break myself out of a rut in life, get off stupid political discussions, wasting my life away tapping useless comments out and generally being sat alone on my sofa every night doing either that, or watching rubbish TV. I used to enjoy trying to re-create records and make tunes of my own. I'm hoping I can do it again and move on with my life in a bit of more healthier direction - but the hope may not actually work out. Sometimes life just changes and you can't go back, as things just aren't the same.

I don't know which way to turn at the moment, or which way it will play out.

epichouse
Posts: 29
Joined: 25 Aug 2019

13 Jan 2022

So the interfaces do have drivers and provide the lower latency? That's reassuring. I need something capable of this, both for reason and for potentially getting back into trying Traktor DJ and my Pioneer DDJ console, as well as making sure I record my vinyl collection in a decent, future-proof, quality way.

(I have the daunting prospect of trying to record around 6,500 vinyls of house/dance music spanning from 1988 to around 2012, which, if you consider some have more than two or three tracks a piece, is quite a task!).

Yes, all my music will be electronic. Progressive house, acid house, Italian/Piano/Synth stuff from the early 90s, some breaks, classic trance and so on, 90% of which will probably have no vocals, or, if they do, they will sample based ones, not my dulcet tones or a hired singer.

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Billy+
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13 Jan 2022

epichouse wrote:
13 Jan 2022

I'm trying to break myself out of a rut in life, get off stupid political discussions, wasting my life away tapping useless comments out and generally being sat alone on my sofa every night doing either that, or watching rubbish TV. I used to enjoy trying to re-create records and make tunes of my own. I'm hoping I can do it again and move on with my life in a bit of more healthier direction - but the hope may not actually work out. Sometimes life just changes and you can't go back, as things just aren't the same.

I don't know which way to turn at the moment, or which way it will play out.
A creative outlet sounds like the right choice for you even if it can be frustrating at times it's worth the effort and can be a positive choice to focus on..

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integerpoet
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13 Jan 2022

epichouse wrote:
13 Jan 2022
So the interfaces do have drivers and provide the lower latency? That's reassuring.
It's more complicated than that.

Some latency is due to firmware, which is roughly software which runs on the device. The amount of this latency largely depends on how good the manufacturer's firmware engineer is and the speed of the chip inside the device that runs the firmware, but generally speaking only a bargain-basement device will be unable to keep the transport hardware as busy as it can be.

Some latency is unavoidably implied by the transport hardware, say USB. Obviously, you want an audio interface with the lowest-latency transport you can afford. I actually don't know what that is right now, but I imagine it's Thunderbolt 4? Maybe somebody with fresh experience with pro-grade interfaces can provide more guidance. I haven't shopped this market for too many years to have a broad perspective.

Some latency is due to the software driver matched with the hardware. If you install a driver provided by the manufacturer, the latency implied is partly due to how good their software engineers are. But also operating systems have inbuilt drivers which will match against a large subset of devices (usually called "class-compliant" or similar), and if you go that route then obviously the software engineers whose skill you care about are employed by the operating system developer. Either way, the latency of the driver is also partly implied by the speed of the computer.

And of course some latency is implied by the round trip through the computer's operating system, operating system add-ons like ASIO, and whatever application you use. It adds up, which is why you want to keep it as low as possible at each stage. Generally speaking, a good review of an interface which talks about latency will specify the full configuration of their test system because there are so many layers that numbers are meaningless without context.
(I have the daunting prospect of trying to record around 6,500 vinyls of house/dance music spanning from 1988 to around 2012, which, if you consider some have more than two or three tracks a piece, is quite a task!).
The good news there is that for that task latency is more or less irrelevant. The bad news is it's probably not possible to trade high latency for low price because a low-priced device is likely to be … ahem … compromised in all ways. :-)

epichouse
Posts: 29
Joined: 25 Aug 2019

14 Jan 2022



https://www.arturia.com/products/audio/ ... nifuse2#en

That's the one I have my eye on. There are better looking devices, in my view, but, most reviews are excellent, it has the USB and MIDI and it is equal roughly in sonic spec to the Focusrite......

....but, nowhere do I see anything about drivers, chips, latency, etc.

Again, this is where I don't understand what's going on. It seems to be the same omission for all sorts of these interfaces. This is what makes me think that they are not the same as "soundcards" and why I worry about just what it is I'd be buying.

I'd assume that the USB C connection would be relatively high speed and that any new laptop I'd get would be capable of USB3, if that helps in regards to transfer/latency speeds.

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integerpoet
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14 Jan 2022

epichouse wrote:
14 Jan 2022
Again, this is where I don't understand what's going on. It seems to be the same omission for all sorts of these interfaces. This is what makes me think that they are not the same as "soundcards" and why I worry about just what it is I'd be buying.
I'll let somebody with a fresher clue set weigh in on this particular device and its transport.

But if it helps any, there are old-school sound cards available today. They're now one category of audio interface among many.

https://www.sweetwater.com/c703--PCI_Audio_Interfaces

That stuff I wrote earlier about transport, with the example being USB? PCI is merely another example of transport.

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