From deke@dekethegeek.com Mon Jan 27 02:54:09 2003
Subject:RE: edirol audio for b4

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This device does actually have a pair of RCA outputs along with the RCA inputs, but it doesn't ship with an ASIO driver. http://www.usb-audio.com sells their aftermarket ASIO driver for around $50... and they say it works with this device, but I wouldn't recommend that path unless you already have one of these in your possession. UA-1A = ~$99 plus the ASIO driver is another $50... that's the better part of the UA-20 by the same company (~$179 I think). The UA-20 has RCA plugs for output (which I don't particularly like), but it has MIDI built in, an optical (!) digital output in case you need it, a headphone output for practice, and it ships with ASIO2 drivers in the box, so I'd call it a good deal for the price.

Keep in mind that Edirol wasn't shooting for soft-synth users or performing musicians per se when they designed their first products. They are beginning to come around to the need for these devices, but their primary focus has always been (mobile) audio capture. Even the UA-20 is listed as an audio capture device right on top, which may confuse some people. If you are okay with unbalanced RCA outputs for your B4 sounds, then this device should do nicely.

I use the M-Audio Quattro for my performance rig. It is about the same size as the UA-20 and doesn't have a headphone output, but it has 4 balanced inputs, and 4 balanced outputs along with MIDI. If you don't know the difference between a balanced and unbalanced signal, take a look at this site: http://www.balanced.com/faq/balanced.html . It is basically just a system that keeps interference out of your signal, among other benefits.

There is one other alternative... the Echo Indigo. If you already have a MIDI interface, and want just audio output, this card is for you. It sells on their website or musiciansfriend.com for $99. I have a friend here in Dallas who I helped with getting B4 running for a live rig, and this is the card uses. It has 2 of the tiny headphone jacks (both stereo unbalanced) for output, so you may need an adapter to get the audio signal to the amp of your choice.

With any of these products, latency should reach below 5 ms easily, depending on the speed of your laptop (mine is 266 MHz, so it doesn't have to be terribly fast).

Also, this isn't an absolute necessity, but I recommend disabling the internal soundcard completely (from the BIOS if possible) once you get the new device. The reason for this is that the soundcard takes up resources even when it isn't being used, and could slow your system down, or even cause it to lock up.

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Aw shucks... thanks for the compliment. I just try to share information and help people... :-)

Deke The Geek