AW: laptop audio I/O hardware

["Rainer Thelonius Balthasar Straschill" <rs@moinlabs.de>]

> Technically it is incorrect to say that one audio interface 
> has better latency than another.  Latency in a computer-based 
> system isn't a fixed characteristic of a device, it is 

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the way I understand this is: say you 
have
a fixed computer system (same installation, same application), and use two
different interfaces. Then you reduce the latency (of the driver, as you
point out) up to the point where you get artifacts. If the setting of one
interface is considerably lower than that of the other one, it's in my eyes
safe to say that "the interface has lower latency", and this will be the
case most of the time with other computers or setups. But yes, if you get a
latency setting of 3ms on one computer in one configuration, chances are
good that with the same interface, another computer and another application
it will not be 3ms.

> F.  So a 32 sample buffer produces the same amount of delay 
> as moving your head about 8.7 inches away from a sound 
> source.  The difference between slouching over your acoustic 
> guitar vs. sitting upright.

Which brings us to another important point: you mention that sound travels
at roughly 30cm/ms (using units I can understand ;). That means that in a
typical living room setup, the time it takes the sound to travel from the
speakers to your ear can be around 10ms. Even if you're having a
kinda-nearfield setup, it's a little over 3ms. So something to keep in mind
here should be using headphones.

        Rainer