Hey..Hey.. Hey.. Guess what? I got my laptop internal sound card to work with ASIO4all..I must be getting better at solving problems in this"new" world..
By pinpointing the sample rate, I got rid of the digital garble and came up with a decent Hyper Canvas Playback,,with a latency of around 20ms..I am quite sure I can reduce it from there, but it is fine for now..

As Oleg has mentioned the internal sound card does not measure up to the sonic sound of my VX Pocket [pcmcia] sound card....but it ain't bad either...Way better than the MS GS wavetable that ships with XP..

So at this point I reached my expectations I wanted with Hyper Canvas[replace the MS GS waves]...Now I will fool around and see if I can set up a controller keyboard[D-70] to play the Hyper Canvas sounds with the right dynamics and latency[I will settle for 15ms]..

On the down side..hearing the Hyper Canvas thru my VX Pocket card sort of spoils my internal card's overall sounds..

I will listen thru my sound system tomorrow and see if it is suitable for my needs...I think it will be, if not I have the VX Pocket, and that is more than suitable..

Terry, when you try the ASIO4all driver set the sample rate at the max 1028, and see if you have the same success..

Hi Oleg,
actually I have a usb M Audiophile and I had all sorts of problems with distortion. I'm assuming I must have something set incorrectly.
I gave up after I got the ASIO4All driver working.
Actually the sound out of my laptop's soundcard is pretty good. I've got the audio out connected to the audio in on my clp170 piano.
I might try getting the audiophile set up again and see if I can hear much difference

best wishes
Rikki.

Hi Fran & Terry,
I had fiddle round with sample rates etc till I got mine to work also. Real fluke actually, because I really didn't have a clue as to what I was doing.

Fran, great to see you got it going.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Fran Carango:
[B]Hey..Hey.. Hey.. Guess what? I got my laptop internal sound card to work with ASIO4all..I

Hi Terry,
these are another couple I came across, I tried the demo of console, but I haven't tried chainer.
http://www.console.jp/eng/ http://www.xlutop.com/html/chainer.html

I got the impression from Frank , that his favourite is Forte, that's why I persevered with it.

best wishes
Rikki

Rikki & Fran, I knew it would only be a matter of time to get it all to work. I would just like to take this opportunity to point out that the following can resolve distortion or quality issues:

* If the latency is set to high for what the soundcard can handle can lead to distortion. You should try for latency of 10ms or less for live performance. If you use a separate wavetable for the accompaniment you might beable to use latency that is higher then 10ms but the lead/melody voices will need to be that or less.

* The latency set in forte should be the same as that set by your soundcard software. Sometimes soundcards do not come with such software.

* Audio level produced by your software can be set to high and result in distortion. In forte you can set the overall audio levels as well as for individual moduls.

* Audio levels leaving your soundcard can be set to high for your preamp/amp.

With a professional level external soundcard you will realize the following:

Lower distortion
Lower noise
Higher dynamic range
Better/more features

I hope this helps.

[This message has been edited by Frank L. Rosenthal (edited 08-24-2004).]

Rikki, yes I strongly recommend forte. It is designed for live performances. The people who produce this product are committed to its continual enhancement. In fact, I will soon be getting the beta version 1.5 for testing. My guess is they will keep improving the buss structure and the midi effects area (e.g., Midifx in Sonar).

In addition, it has Audio in which you can manipulate via midi, e.g., pitch correction, vocal harmonizers, guitar distortion and so on.

Now as the feature list expands the complexity and reliability become more of a challenge. However, the producers work hard at resolving all such issues.

In fact, you may wish to touch basis with them and others on their discussion forums regarding some of your laptop issues. I believe there are number of people there who use the laptop for studio and live performances. I can only help in terms of generalities given I have no access to a laptop to test things on.

There are a number of VST and DX devices you can use with forte to capture audio, add effects and so on. http://www.tonewise.com/DirectiXer/ http://www.dspfx.com/VirtualPack/html/overview.html http://www.fxpansion.com/ http://www.midifo.com/ http://www.thedirectxfiles.com/plugins.htm http://tobybear.de/

If on the otherhand you want to work in the studio and produce midi sequences or finished audio products then other approaches such as Cubase & Sonar 3 may work better for you.

[This message has been edited by Frank L. Rosenthal (edited 08-24-2004).]

Some alternatives to the laptop that may deserve your attention are the following:
http://us.shuttle.com/SB83G5.asp http://sys.us.shuttle.com/ http://www.bsicomputer.com/

These are larger in size than the laptops but smaller than a regular PC. The plus is you can install the highest quality drives, soundcards, DVDs/RW and so on available in the market today. The shuttle can be purchased with liquid cooling and is very, very, very, very....quiet!!!!

I just thought I would point this out for those who have to much money.

Great to see you back Frank,
you've taught us well, but it would be awful having to muddle along on our own ( haahaa)

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Frank L. Rosenthal:
[B]

Rikki thanks for the info.Unfortunately I did something to the settings on my laptop and now I am not getting even distorted playback.I will get back at it tonight.I am also currently in the process of moving house,and I am doing 4 road gigs this week as well,so it will be slow going.I feel confidant that I will make it work eventually as I am really interested in the soft synth possibilities.I will continue to tinker.Do you remember how you adjusted the latency. I am new to this and need all the help I can get .Thanks Terry

Rikki, M-Audio soundcards usually have good drivers. There must be an issue with operating system you are using or your laptop configuration. I would give M-audio customer support a call or look on their web site for updated drivers. External soundcard should give you better sound and no audible latency. You should try again to install your USB soundcard.