audio interface for minimizing machfive latency

[jhenry]

Hi ••“ after haunting these forums anonymously and finding them very helpful, i'm piping up because i need some advice. i apologize for the length of this post; i wanted to err on the side of being thorough.

so in a nutshell my problem is machfive latency, which i'm using in ableton live (v4.1.4 but upgrading soon to 5). with the mbox is completely unusable ••“ i'm supposedly getting 12ms, but it seems much longer to me. using built in powerbook soundcard is noticeably better, but still not good enough. if i'm recording one part unaccompanied it's ok, but as soon as i start overdubbing i get crackling, etc. and need to increase the buffer. by the way i don't think this matters but my MIDI interface is a midisport 2x2.

i'm planning on upping my RAM to 1.5 GB and going with a 7200 RPM external firewire drive for housing my MachFive libraries. i'm hoping both of these changes will yield some improvement (the RAM should allow me to run MachFive in 32 bit mode, which should reduce CPU load and thus allow me to reduce buffer size ••“ correct?). but from what i'm reading, a key ingredient is going to be a better audio interface.

basically, my number one priority is minimal latency when monitoring machfive during recording (latency when monitoring incoming audio during recording isn't as big a deal assuming the interface has direct monitoring). i can get by with just stereo inputs and outputs, though more would be better so i have flexibility for the future. obviously i want good sound quality, but this is less important to me than minimizing latency.

like everyone, i'm on a budget ••“ ideally under $500, though i could potentially go up to $1,000.

from my research, it seems like RME has a lot of fans for low latency. there's also this zero cpu load thing which i won't pretend to understand but if it is what it sounds like, would be valuable considering my processor is only 1 ghz. it seems like the best RME option for me would be multiface+cardbus, which would come in at just under a grand.

a bit lower down the price range is the motu traveler or 828mkii. for various reasons, i could get a great price on either of these ••“ somewhere around $600.

then at lower end (price wise) are presonus firebox and the focusrite sapphire. and i've also been reading good things about the yamaha i88x, though all things being equal i'd like something a bit smaller.
so i guess the question is: given my primary concern (ie machfive latency), does it seem likely that i will notice a significant difference between these cards? i realize the rme is "better" in a lot of ways than say the firebox, but just talking latency, how much difference is there?

i'm also interested in any other audio interface recommendations.

one final thought. i've been considering getting digital performer. is there any reason to think that i would experience less machfive latency in dp than in live?

sorry again for the length of this post, and thanks in advance for your help.

jeffers