[Erich0316]

All,
Great forum! I have what may be a dumb question. I have recently acquired a new PC for my home studio. My intention is to turn my old one into a MIDI interface so I can use Fruity Loops for a couple of different applications. The machine is:
Dell Optiplex 745, 3.0Ghs processed w/a 533Mhs FSB.
4Gb DDR2 RAM
2X 500Gb SATA HDD (10,000 RPM)
Supercooler (I think that's the brand) liquid CPU cooler
Nvidia GeForce 256Mb 9600 AGP Vid Card

My question is: I have an old Creative SB Live 5.1 sound card I would like to use with this system. Can I get the latency of this card to an acceptable level for keybiard use with an M-Audio MIDI - USB interface?

All of the equipment I have in this machine is from my "stash" and I don't have any cash to spend at this time. I have a GREAT machine for my actual studio processor and may be able to buy an M-Audio 2496, or something, in a few months. For now, I have to use what is at hand.

All I want to do is to get a keyboard run through the MIDI - USB interface and have it perform at a moderately acceptable level until I can afford a better audio interface.

Long story short: Will this SB Live 5.1 card ever be able to function in this fashion?

Sorry about the "book"! Thank you in advance for your help!

[johan851]

My question is: I have an old Creative SB Live 5.1 sound card I would like to use with this system. Can I get the latency of this card to an acceptable level for keybiard use with an M-Audio MIDI - USB interface?

You have all the parts together, right? You could just plug it in and see.

I don't know a ton about latency, but I believe it mostly has to do with your specific hardware configuration and drivers. You can probably get latency down quite low, especially if the machine is dedicated to audio.

It'll probably work. I say try it out, and if you have issues with latency, post back and see if we can help out. A quick Google search says that a few people have had success with keyboards and the SB Live!.

[Erich0316]

Danke, Johan. I decided to mess around a little with it tomorrow. I'll post what I find out. I also researched some and most of what I found defines the system config as the primary contributor. I have more than enough machine, plenat of RAM & HDD space so I should be OK. I'll post again, tomorrow. Thanks!