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This page: Latency; Soundcard and Drivers; Connections; Native or DSP?
"DSP synths offer the benefit of guaranteed power and near-zero latency -- like having the electronics of a regular synthesizer fitted on a PCI card."
Latency
Latency -- the audible delay between striking and hearing a note -- has a great impact on the usability of a software synth or sampler. Latency is caused mostly by the memory buffers required by the computer's CPU and the soundcard, and happens in two places when played in real time. There will be a delay before the incoming MIDI data is processed and another before the resulting sound reaches the audio output. If the synthesizer output is fed to another program, an audio sequencer for instance, there will be another delay. This means that the overall latency depends on the combined performance of the computer, soundcard, software, and the audio and MIDI drivers.
A sampler integrated in your sequencer -- a dream made possible by Emagic and the EXS24, provided you're a Logic Audio user. Unity DS-1 from Bitheadz, another software sampler, caters to more platforms. (click for a close-up)
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If you're using a program as a stand-alone sound module, latency times around 15 to 20ms are quite workable. But when playing against already recorded tracks in a sequence, things get a little dodgy.
There are ways around the problem: Apply a playback offset to the MIDI track that drives the offending synthesizer, or bounce the synthesizer output to disk, and then import the audio into your arrangement where you can line it up with the rest of your tracks.
But there's good news for the studio-space challenged: Assuming you have a reasonably fast computer, you can expect latency around 5ms out of some of the latest programs -- providing playability that rivals that of hardware units.
Soundcard and Drivers
Windows users should avoid the mediocre MME drivers and go for a soundcard with DirectSound -- or better, ASIO drivers. Along with superior performance, this Steinberg-developed format handles multiple I/O and offers advanced hardware tweaks, such as buffer size. Programs like Nemesys' GigaSampler and GigaStudio come with optimized, dedicated drivers, so check that your soundcard is compatible with the drivers of all your potential software instruments.
On the Mac, the integrated audio I/O and the Sound Manager are a bit archaic (limited to a stereo pair, and 16-bit/44.1 kHz resolution), but good enough for basic needs. If you'd prefer separate outputs or a digital interface, you can choose among the plethora of soundcards made by Sonorus, Digidesign, Echo, M Audio, MOTU, Korg, etc.
Connections
Unless you dedicate one or more computers to your soft synths, you'll run them within the same machine that hosts your audio sequencer. Several systems allow you to connect these two types of programs, the main ones being Propellerhead Rewire, Digidesign Direct Connect, MOTU MAS 2.0, and Steinberg VST 2.0. The first three let you connect the synth to the mixing console through "virtual cables." VST 2.0 follows a different philosophy: The synth is hosted by the sequencer and handled like a plug-in, which allows the host program to automate parameter changes, save and load settings, and synch LFOs, arpeggios, and other parameters to tempo (also possible with Rewire).
Performance can vary. For instance, Rebirth offers flawless synchronization with Cubase via ReBirth, but Koblo Gamma 9000 falters. Overall, the numerous benefits of VST 2.0 -- especially the true "total recall" -- make it a potential winner on the market. It will be interesting to see if Propellerhead's forthcoming Rewire 2.0 will up the ante.
The Vibra9000 has a great multimode filter, and separate outputs for the lowpass, bandpass and highpass signal. (click for a close-up)
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Native or DSP?
Along with purely "native" programs, dependent on the computer's CPU, there are products that run on DSP cards and offer the benefit of guaranteed power and near-zero latency -- it's like having the electronics of a regular synthesizer fitted on a PCI card. In most cases, these hardware platforms are open to third-party development. But these solutions are more expensive, and third-party offerings are less abundant. The chief dedicated platforms today are the Creamware systems (Pulsar, Scope, Powersampler), Korg OASYS PCI, and Digidesign Pro Tools TDM or SampleCell. Of course, nothing prevents you from combining native software synths with DSP-based synths.
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