Topic by alba63

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Topic: Audio interface for Pianoteq on Thinkpad Notebook

Exactly what the title says: I have a Lenovo X1 Carbon (i7) notebook with USB3 & Thunderbolt 3. Windows 10 obviously.

I have installed Pianoteq but with the internal soundcard latency is horribly high. I tried ASIO4all, but still not good enough. Therefore I look for a audio interface that delivers low latency (to the point that it is not really audible) with low CPU load. My notebook is quite fast but I want the fans to make as little noise as possible. As far as I know this mainly requires well programmed and optimized drivers.

Later I may also use some synths like Spectrasonics Keyscape, but this should in principle be the same thing in terms of needed hardware.

Can anybody recommend sth that works well?  Device does not need to be the best HiEnd device as I only need to use it when not at home.

Thank you...

Reply by AareHavanese

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Re: Audio interface for Pianoteq on Thinkpad Notebook

I was in a similar situation but with a MS Surface Pro 6 - dreadful latency and ASIO4all sort of working but very unreliable. I first tried a Zoom U22 but the latency wasn't improved. Then I grabbed a Cambridge Audio DacMagic XS. It has it's own ASIO drivers and did a fantastic job of removing latency. The improved sound especially through headphones was an unexpected benefit. If you don't need the extra inputs that an audio interface will give you then something like this could be worth a look - https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/usa/en/p...acmagic-xs

Cheers
Mark

Reply by Zaskar

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Re: Audio interface for Pianoteq on Thinkpad Notebook

I use a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. The Focusrite ASIO driver is well maintained and causes no noticable latency on my 7 years old laptop. The built quality is good, it's powered over USB and sounds fine with my studio monitors. With it comes a bunch of free software, for example a free addictive keys instrument. You also get new free plugins every other month.

Last edited by Zaskar (10-07-2020 00:04)
"Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes."

Reply by skip

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Re: Audio interface for Pianoteq on Thinkpad Notebook

I have the same problem with my Dell XPS 15 9560 - excessive latency, regardless of how small the ASIO4ALL buffer size is. Fortunately, when I got my Yamaha P-515, I was able to use it's internal USB audio interface - problem solved, and it has a pretty beefy headphone output too.

However, just something to consider: a REALLY cheap option is the Google USB-C to 3.5mm adaptor. (if you have USB-C). This does have low latency with ASIO4ALL, at least on my laptop. It won't be able to drive many full size headphones loud enough, but should be fine for low impedance headphones. (I'm assuming it's output is basically the same as a normal smartphone 3.5mm output - low signal level, but very low output impedance).

Edit: I also tried Windows Audio (exclusive mode) with the internal audio - same problem - excessive latency.

Greg

Last edited by skip (12-07-2020 14:23)

Reply by alba63

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Re: Audio interface for Pianoteq on Thinkpad Notebook

Thank you for your suggestions so far. I will think about whether I need additional inputs/ Outputs and look into the suggested solutions.

Reply by skip

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Re: Audio interface for Pianoteq on Thinkpad Notebook

IMPORTANT: I was wrong about ASIO4ALL with the Google adaptor - I have NOT got it to work well. What does work well is Windows Audio (Exclusive Mode).
However, the problem with that is, that not all audio programs support this driver. (I see that Kontakt 5, running standalone, for example, only seems to support the Shared Mode, and I can't get that mode to give me low latency. In Pianoteq, the Exclusive Mode definitely has low latency)

Greg

Reply by skip

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Re: Audio interface for Pianoteq on Thinkpad Notebook

This is 2 years old, but it looks like the Apple USB-C adaptor measures better than the Google ones - not sure whether Google has improved since then. Mine sounds absolutely fine, FWIW, and easily drives my 32 ohm Grado SR80e phones.
No idea how the Apple ones go wrt latency.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/foru...ters.5541/

So consider Apple.

Greg