Portable USB interface advice needed

[Georgerob]

Hi,

I've been using Pro Tools in an amateur sense for years now, and used to have a desktop PC setup in a spare room with all my gear, but now I don't have that luxury so I hardly ever do any writing anymore because now it involves getting out my audio interface and all the associated cables etc to plug that into my amp, just to multitrack a bit of guitar.

I've PT HD 10 now, and I've been doing a bit of mixing using the asio4all driver, with the sound just coming out of the HDMI cable from my laptop and through my AV system in the lounge, which is fine. But my question is, can I get a simple 1/4 jack to USB "guitar interface" and then record live guitar via this interface, with no latency into PT (and out of the HDMI and my Hifi)? Or do all of those cheap interfaces result in lag? I just want the simplest, quickest way to plug in my guitar if I get an idea, and quickly lay down some tracks.

I guess I'm after something like an I-Rig that people use with Ipads and Garageband, but that will work with my asio4all driver and PT10, with no latency.

Any advice duly appreciated!

[Bill Denton]

It's not so much a matter of cheap vs expensive...

Several companies make USB "guitar interfaces", many with headphone jacks. My recommendation would be to get one of these, use the manufacturer's driver, and just use headphones for recording.

Going through HDMI into your stereo could introduce additional latency and/or phase shifting.

Given that you are working in an untreated room, I would also use the interface's headphone jack when mixing.

And while the USB driver is a large determinate in the amount of latency (and you should start with the manufacturer's latest driver), there are many other factors that also induce latency...

[Georgerob]

Thanks Bill.

OK so presuming the audio interface itself is ok and doesn't created any latency, if I just took a 3.5mm jack from the headphone out of the interface and into my amp, that should work ok? Regarding the drivers, would pro tools HD 10 recognise a generic audio interface and let me record via it and by using the asio4all driver?

Presuming all of these, not considering possible impedance mismatch, the answer is: YES.