Matt nailed it. You identified the problem correctly and you gave yourself the solution.

Trying to move things to compensate is a bad way to do it. Once you get a "real card running ASIO" you will have to go back to everything and rework them all.

Laptops are totally capable of doing a good job recording audio and midi, but they don't come with teh hardware to do that. The soundcard in most laptops is the cheapest thing they can find. And it uses MME only. Computer stores will try to sell you a SoundBlaster, claiming it's an upgrade and for a gamer, it is. For us in the music world, it is not.

SoundBlaster cards are designed to play MP3's and provide the sound to videos and games....and that's about all they are good for. Anyone serious about recording should look for a better interface that will allow ASIO in it's native form and not just some proprietary codec wrapper. MME is not designed to do what we need it to do. Wrapping it with a codec isn't the answer. Go shopping for your sound card/interface at a music store, not a computer store.

Focusrite is a good option to consider since they have interfaces that all use ASIO and have good audio preamps for mics as well as phantom power.

USB connected interface is a good way to go.

You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.