Going crazy over latency

Big Thier

Member
Hi, this is my first post. I'll try to make this short: I'm using an Audio Technica AT3035 condenser mic, which is hooked up with an XLR cable to my Roland Edirol UA-25EX soundcard, which is hooked up to the PC with a USB cable. My problem is: I'm dealing with occasional latency. To put it simply, the sound coming out the headphones is delayed of like 1/4 second, so whenever somebody records vocals, they're slightly offbeat. But sometimes, around 20% of the time, it will be right on beat. No latency. But then the next day, it's delayed again. I've pretty much tried everything to fix it, buffer sizes, enabling/disabling stuff (I'm a noob at this), I called all the music stores in my area, I even paid someone online to help me, but it never went away. I'm recording in Acoustica Mixcraft 2 (I know) but I have the same problem recording with Audacity. Also, I'm not even using VST's or any effects while recording, or running a lot of programs at the same time. I'm on Windows 7. In Mixcraft, I choose the Edirol soundcard as the recording IN, and for the playback OUT. I hope this makes sense. Looking forward to your suggestions.
 
1 Check that there are no background applications that may interfere with your recording (e.g. wifi, virus checkers, screen savers). If it is happening intermittently, then maybe this might be the cause.

2 Use direct monitoring as mjb suggested. Plug monitors and headphones in to the Edirol and use that.
 
With "Direct Monitoring" on there should be zero latency (you're routing your input signals direct to your headphones without going via the computer) so something is clearly going on here.

The first thing I'd do is go to the Roland site and download/install their latest drivers.

Beyond that, I notice from the manual that the Direct Monitor Volume knob is doing more than the name implies. It's actually controlling the balance between signals coming from the computer and the stuff on the the direct input. I don't know Acoustica at all, but could you have a button selected so the "new" material is being routed back to the Edirol interface. If so, the effect of the Direct Monitor Volume knob would be to mix between zero latency and latency. Your best bet would be to turn off the monitor playback of the new tracks in Acoustica...might be as basic as hitting Mute on the tracks you're recording...but I'd hit the manual to see if there's a better way.

FYI, with the Direct Monitoring, none of the buffer size stuff etc. should come into play. However, if you use any MIDI then it all comes into play since MIDI must go via the computer.

Hope some of this helps a bit.
 
1 Check that there are no background applications that may interfere with your recording (e.g. wifi, virus checkers, screen savers). If it is happening intermittently, then maybe this might be the cause.

2 Use direct monitoring as mjb suggested. Plug monitors and headphones in to the Edirol and use that.

Are you telling me I should turn off my antivirus while I'm recording? About the wifi, I don't know much about that but I do have a router hooked up with another computer so I don't know... And I already plug everything into the Edirol soundcard. Should I still turn the rest off in the computer's settings? I also tried that with no success.
 
With "Direct Monitoring" on there should be zero latency (you're routing your input signals direct to your headphones without going via the computer) so something is clearly going on here.

The first thing I'd do is go to the Roland site and download/install their latest drivers.

Beyond that, I notice from the manual that the Direct Monitor Volume knob is doing more than the name implies. It's actually controlling the balance between signals coming from the computer and the stuff on the the direct input. I don't know Acoustica at all, but could you have a button selected so the "new" material is being routed back to the Edirol interface. If so, the effect of the Direct Monitor Volume knob would be to mix between zero latency and latency. Your best bet would be to turn off the monitor playback of the new tracks in Acoustica...might be as basic as hitting Mute on the tracks you're recording...but I'd hit the manual to see if there's a better way.

FYI, with the Direct Monitoring, none of the buffer size stuff etc. should come into play. However, if you use any MIDI then it all comes into play since MIDI must go via the computer.

Hope some of this helps a bit.


Thanks a lot for your reply. Acoustica Mixcraft is a really basic program (that's why I like it), but like I said I got the same problem with Audacity, so I wouldn't think Mixcraft is the problem. And nah, there's no "monitoring button" unfortunately. I'll go re-install the drivers but I'm pretty sure I've already done that.

Are you using plugins? They can introduce latency depending.

Cheers :)

No, no plugins at all!
 
Thanks a lot for your reply. Acoustica Mixcraft is a really basic program (that's why I like it), but like I said I got the same problem with Audacity, so I wouldn't think Mixcraft is the problem. And nah, there's no "monitoring button" unfortunately. I'll go re-install the drivers but I'm pretty sure I've already done that.

In that case just try hitting the Mute button on the new track(s) you're recording while you record. Might work.
 
And the monitor button is pushed on the Edirol?

The thing is, as soon as you go into direct monitoring on the Editrol, it shouldn't just be low latency--it should be zero latency. My mention of muting the track you're recording was in case your DAW was feeding delayed sound back into the system.

Just to confirm, on your interface you should have the monitor button pushed and you should use the monitor level knob to mix between the present input to the system and what's coming off the computer. The "present input" (with the monitor button pushed is NOT running via the computer and latency should be zero--so somewhere you have a setting wrong.

Hmmm...we ARE talking about something live via a mic or something, not MIDI? MIDI is something different again....
 
And the monitor button is pushed on the Edirol?

The thing is, as soon as you go into direct monitoring on the Editrol, it shouldn't just be low latency--it should be zero latency. My mention of muting the track you're recording was in case your DAW was feeding delayed sound back into the system.

Just to confirm, on your interface you should have the monitor button pushed and you should use the monitor level knob to mix between the present input to the system and what's coming off the computer. The "present input" (with the monitor button pushed is NOT running via the computer and latency should be zero--so somewhere you have a setting wrong.

Hmmm...we ARE talking about something live via a mic or something, not MIDI? MIDI is something different again....

Thanks. Yeah, the button is pushed and the light is on. Muting didn't work. The monitor level knob is set in the middle. And yeah, condensor mic running through sound card linked to PC through USB. I tried earlier reducing the buffer sizes to the lowest amount possible, it looked onbeat (maybe a few ms delay) but then there was a fuck up in the sound and from there it was delayed again.
 
If the buffer size on the computer is affecting your latency then, for whatever reason, the Direct Monitoring on your interface isn't acting as your prime monitor source. In direct monitoring, what you hear in you headphones should be pulled off in the interface BEFORE it gets anywhere near the computer and its buffering.

Things to check:

Your headphones are plugged into the interface, not the computer, right?

You mentioned the knob on the monitoring was in the middle. Experiment with moving to either end entirely. You'll likely lose music playback from the computer but at one end or the other are you hearing your mic in real time without latency?

If you get it to work that way, then you have to find a way to stop your DAW feeding the recording signal back to the interface--this should be DAW 101 so I'll be surprised if it isn't there but, if it genuinely isn't then it might be time to upgrade to Reaper or something.
 
P

I will try messing with the direct monitoring knob, alright.

Just wanted to add: I think the PC might be the problem, 'cause I recorded a song on my old Windows XP with the same gear/DAW and there was no latency.
 
I will try messing with the direct monitoring knob, alright.

Just wanted to add: I think the PC might be the problem, 'cause I recorded a song on my old Windows XP with the same gear/DAW and there was no latency.

Interesting clue.

Highly unlikely it's the computer itself but it's certainly worth checking you have the right drivers for the operating system on the new computer installed. I'd do another trip the the web site for the interface maker.

Hmmm...thinking out loud, did you install any extra drivers on your old XP machine or just use the built in Windows (MME) drivers? If the latter, try changing to generic MME drivers on your new machine (if you DAW allows that). If nothing else, that could prove that it's a driver issue.
 
Hi, just thought i'd chip in. I recently bought an audio interface to use for recording. I started off using MME which gave me the problem you're having at the moment it seems. By the reducing the buffer size the playback became choppy and skipped. The rather than trying to reduce the lantency i used an lantency offset which if used correctly gets rid of the latency. I was using Sonar but it seems audacity has it in preferences (not sure about that other one you mentioned). The hard part is working out the correction value but you could just use trial and error. It solves the problem though.

The issue i'm having is i've started using ASIO driver which has a system which calculates the offset for latency with the interface but i'm getting choppy playback again. I can't increase the buffer size anymore (maxed out 10ms) so not sure what to do but try the offsets with MME because that works although difficult to get perfect.
 
Download this..
Thesycon - USB, IEEE 1394, Software Development, Windows Device Drivers Development

The latency checker will tell you if you have a good enough basic system.

Basics: Have you turned off Windows noises, those irritating bleeps and swooops? Did you disable On Board Sound before you installed the Roland? You shouldn't have to these day but at straws we clutch! I suggest you uninstall the Roland, disable OBS, re boot, run Ccleaner and then re install the AI.

Dave.
 
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