Different CPU load with different soundcard?

[Polpotkin]

How much, if any, does the soundcard, drivers and different interfaces help unload the CPU? Is there a difference at all?

I was thinking of buying an HDSP9652 instead of my M-box1 (USB 1.1?), and I was wondering if maybe my projects will run easier with this card, or is it just up to the RAM and processor?


EDIT
Oups, sorry... Equipment of course...

 

[carl@laruso.com]

deffo does make a difference mate, I used to use an emu 1212 to track drums (needed 12 channels) and then used to mix on a Maudio delta 66 cos i could run more pluggs - @ higher latency

dunno if that really answers your question.... but I guess it may help a bit?

C.

 

[Polpotkin]

maybe. I'd like to hear more experiences and facts

Does the interface (USB/FW/PCI) affect the performance?

 

[greyskull]

i think so....
i think pci is the most stable and less resource using, shortly followed by firewire, and limping slowly miles behind is usb, which sucks for audio

i could be wrong, anyone else know?

 

[KnifeVariable]

@Polpotkin
USB is the devil, especially if it's anything below 2.0! An Audigy 2 ZS (pci) gave me far far FAR less headaches than the M-Audio FastTrack (USB 1.1) interface - the M-Audio was so incredibly slow, it was ridiculous, absolutely beyond comprehension, pure fucking garbage. Actually, the sole memory of that abomination managed to upset me, see?! ->

Back to your original question about CPU/RAM/interface - I'm running Cubase SX3 on an AMD sempron 3000 (768 MB RAM ) with a Firepod - obviously not a very recording-friendly PC CPU/RAM-wise. Nonetheless, the lastest mixdown attempt ended up having 74 channels (lots of plugins of course), which to my surprise ran ok with Firepod's highest latency settings. Is this what you wanted to know?

@greyskull
I think the main concern would be the bandwidth of these devices. Let's talk approximate numbers then: PCI (32bit/33MHz) has a standard bandwidth of what 133MB/s? Let's compare that to external devices - USB < 2.0 has less than 2MB/s! USB 2 has approx 60MB/s, FireWire scales rather well having approx 50MB/S at 400 transfer mode and slightly below 200MB/s at 1600. Anyway, PCI is the obvious king and consider that ie PCI-X 133 increases that bandwidth by nearly 10 times, you know PCI is here to stay, in one form or another.

 

[Polpotkin]

Now we're talking. If this is true. The bandwith is no secret but does it really help the CPU to run more channels/plug-ins?

Right now i'm using a P4 2.8Ghz 1Gb Ram and M-box1, and at least RAM-wise it's not best suited for music production.
In a not too far future I will buy both a new sound card and probably a 2nd hand MacPro, but the question is, which comes first? I cound spend some extra on more ram, but i've spent so damn much money on this shitty computer over the past 2 years.
I'd rather buy the soundcard first and save some more money for the mac, than waiting longer to buy both at the same time, but if it won't make any difference to the PC I can wait

 

[Curran]

a differant sound card will definatley effect the performance and everything else. crashes, play back, latency, the whole nine yards baby! I run an RME 9652 and have been for about 7 years. this thing takes all of the load off of the CPU during tracking and play back of the tracks and recording. of course track count and plugins are still up to your CPU/RAM combination, BUT if you run a shitty sound card or a sub-par card you get higher latency and also poor audio converters(lame, flat, and dull sound). if you got somthing along the lines of the RME card and an ADAT interface you could get very good sound and also be able to work you way up to recording more tracks without haveing to go and buy HUGE amounts of new equipment. expand instead of exchange. anyway those are my two penny's for what it is worth.
plus I have never had any operating problems or crash problems due to the RME it is a rock solid card and the ASIO drivers are some of the best out there(thise damn germans are sooooooooo good at makeing stuff work right ALL the time)

Love Curran

 

[Polpotkin]

Thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to hear.
I think i'll buy the HDSP before I go for the new computer then.

What computer do you use, and what software?

 

[Curran]

I use an old pentium 4 1.32 ghz with 1.5 gigs of ram and about four or five scsi drives for audio(not in a raid setup). we are getting ready to upgrade the system but we have been so busy with making records that we can't afford the down time here at the studio. you can do a lot with the new sata drives and also firwire stand alone drive BUT don't buy the prebuilt drives they are a waste of maney and you can do the same thing on your own for about 1/3 the cost of those drives. I also ues Nuendo 2 and 3 for everything here in the studio. and I grudgingly use protools when I have to freelance in ither studios around town.
love Curran
sorry I also use a T.C. power core card as well

 

[s34nsm411]

i used to run a really ghetto setup with my monitors connected to a podxt which functioned as my interface, and whenever i switched to my pc soudncard drivers i noticed that i could run tons more plugins than on the podxt which puzzled me since i always thought that was dependant on cpu power.

now i have a focusrite saffire and it seems to be almost the same as running my pc soundcard in terms of how many plugins i can have on, but i wonder what value (eg. cpu speed, but in terms of a soundcard) determines how good it is at running plugins, anybody know?

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Don't get a usb 1.1 card they suck, I know I use one and hate it. I can't seem to get it to work under 23 ms of latency!