Lowest Latency Sound Card

I'm using a sound card for reading analogue signals and for the ADC component. I need extremely low latency (<1ms). Is the sound card the right way to go or can you get better results with a custom ADC component with 0 buffer?

Whats the best available sound card? Whats the best interface (USB/Firewire/PCI)? Can you set the buffer size to 0?

Appreciate any help on this.

Thanks.

DD.

Posted 2012-02-09T18:46:29.660

Reputation: 390

Answers

Any of the USB/Firewire/PCI sound cards from audio production hardware companies should meet your needs.

MOTU's products have 'zero latency' monitoring, but you should be able to get down to the 1-2 MS range for input to your system.

Nick Haddad

Posted 2012-02-09T18:46:29.660

Reputation: 765

thxs nick...any idea how these compare to the create emu 0204? How come all these seem to use a 1ms buffer? – DD. – 2012-02-09T20:51:39.457

I've heard the emu products are very good as well. – Nick Haddad – 2012-02-10T20:02:04.457

Asus Xonar Essence STX provides up to 1ms Latency

https://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_Essence_STX/

Im currently running this $200 sound card on Win 7 64 bit, very pleased, not sure about Win 8. Many configurable options and features, I recommend this sound card to anybody looking for the best of the best, software is decent and I've never had a problem. Sound quality is unbelievable, definitely worth the money.

Eric

Posted 2012-02-09T18:46:29.660

Reputation: 1