Horrible Latency

[Iamadam]

Hi =]

I've just started on my quest to set up a home studio, kind of building it piece by piece. I'm not ready to buy a new sound card - I believe that the one I currently have should be okay for a little while (
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme).

My problem is the huge latency I'm experiencing.

I plugged my keyboard into the input on the card, and enabled direct monitoring (I assume that's what the checkbox that says 'monitor' does?) and played a couple of notes. There is a noticeable delay between me hitting the key, and the note being played. I suspected it may be the keyboard, so I tried a microphone, to the same effect.

My computer is relatively fast (1GB ram, dual core 2.4GHz processor) so I don't think that should be a problem.

Has anyone experienced similar problems? Any hope for me at all?

[Electriclight]

I'm not ready to buy a new sound card - I believe that the one I currently have should be okay for a little while (Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme).

My problem is the huge latency I'm experiencing.

You just answered your own question. THIS is the reason that audio interfaces exist. They don't cost so much...use the Sound Card Wizard on this site. (Brandon, this really needs to be renamed to Audio Interface Wizard)

Why Do I Need An Audio Interface Designed For Home Recording?

[Iamadam]

I managed to fix the problem. Installed an ASIO driver and now there is no latency at all. Pretty great recording quality as well

Thanks for the suggestion, I will look into getting a proper audio interface in the future - just not at the moment.

[Electriclight]

Greeat! I look forward to hearing your next creation here.