Whenever we get order inquiries for sound cards, the
first question customers ask is, "Does the card
have zero latency?" The fact is, there can never
be a zero latency. Yes, some cards do produce significant
latency which can be compared to statements like, "Latency
in my card is so bad that I can hit a note on my keyboard
and finish my cup of tea before I hear the sound!!".
Well, such cards surely need to be replaced with more
professional sound cards, which are not necessarily
expensive. Check
these out.
There has been much confusion regarding MIDI latency
and it all can be traced back to a misprint about MIDI
timing in an old article of Keyboard Magazine.
With all electronic instruments there is a measurable
degree of latency, a delay between when you tell the
instrument to do something and when it actually does
it. That measurement, however, is incredibly small.
While Audio latency is measured in term of Milliseconds,
MIDI latency is usually measured in terms of nanoseconds.
Now that's not to say that there can not be any delay
in using a MIDI setup. Some synthesizers are inherently
slower than others in producing sound. Some synthesizers
patches are designed with a slow attack, as well. Your
computer configuration matters as well, besides the
softwares being used for recording.
If you use a pirated software as well as a pirated
operating system, chances are that while recording,
your recording software will simply crash! This can
be really embarassing with your client sitting next
to you.
So, its best to go for original softwares as well as
professional sound cards if you are a true professional.
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