Can you help?: M-Audio 88es latency -- what soundcard to buy?

[corysnyder28]

Hey gang,

I just picked up an 88es as my first foray into midi on my home PC. It's a decent enough machine -- 2.75 Ghz, 1GB ram, etc. -- but when I plug the midi controller into my system via usb (using my mobo's onboard audio) the latency's predictably terrible.

 

Forgive the newbie question, but can't I correct this with the right ASIO-compliant soundcard?

 

Any recommendations? A friend suggested m-audio's Fast Track USB extrenal device. Should that do the trick? Any thing else in the price class (or cheaper?)?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

-CS