For those of you who dont know what Addictive Drums is, its an VSTi program that connects to my Electric drums via Midi cables. So if i hit the drum pad on my kit, whatever sound i chose on the Addictive Drum's program, the sound will activate.

I have an electric drum kit and have decided to use Addictive Drums because i am disgusted by what my kit had to offer! I eventually got AD working but noticed a delay between the drum pad and the speaker.

People have been saying i should get a new and better soundcard for my laptop because its the soundcard thats meant to be doing all the work! My E-drum is connected to my Laptop via Midi/USB cable, my Laptop is then connected to my Roland Drum speaker via an AUX cable plugged into my Laptop's headphone hole thingy. <<< (is that way to connect my laptop to my speaker? does that make the sound quality worse?)

So i am unsure which one i should be buying? I was thinking to go with the soundcard because it may deliver a better quality sound through to the speakers, but im not sure if it'll get rid of the delay?

I want to be absolutely sure getting a new soundcard will get rid of the delay before i spend $100's on it!

Thanks in advance!

A better audio interface ('soundcard') will likely reduce the delay, but it won't get rid of it completely. It takes time for digital processing to do its thing to convert you hitting a drum pad into a sound arriving from a speaker. This is known as 'latency' and it something all of us digital muso types are only too aware of!

Latency can be reduced by using a good quality audio interface with well-written drivers. But there's a payback... The lower lantecy you try to force (by reducing buffering), then the harder time your computer will have of it and stuttering/crackling may become a problem. A compromise has to be struck.

It may be worth you giving the free ASIO4ALL drivers a try before embarking on any expenditure. Only you can say what latency figures will satisfy your ears, but I find that drummers do have a hard time of it much above 5ms.

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An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

See if you can monitor from your kit's controller box while sending MIDI to your laptop (you should be able to). Don't listen to the sound from AD (which will have delay) while tracking, just listen (monitor) at your kit.

The power, i.e. processor speed of your laptop will have some influence on how low you can get the latency but not really that much. I think the evidence is now in that the interface is the fly in this parictular ointment?
Unless you have a great deal of cash to spend I do not think you will get a faster AI (usb OR FW?) than the Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6. I have recently done some (admittedly merely subjective) tests on mine with a mid range i3 HP laptop and it seems very nearly instantaneous to me. It will work at 64 samples but is quite fast enough I find at 256 which is not giving the CPU such a hard time.
If you are UK based you can buy a Ka6 and hook it up for a day and if it does not meet your needs ship it back under the Distance Trading Regs'. I would suggest you first download the handbook and latest drivers from NI so you can get on, spit-spot, with the testing!

If the Ka6 is out of your pocket an M-Audio Fast track Pro is pretty good despite its age. You might find one at Cash Converters or similar for 50-80quid.

Dave.