How to stop latency?

S

scotter140

New member
I still haven't figured out how to make Garageband usable for guitar/ bass. How do you stop the latency?

My interface is Steinberg UR22. I have the latest driver.

Someone asked me if I knew if I was using ASIO drivers.... Well, I don't know, how would I check that information?

Some info about my computer OS X El Capitan
Version 10.11.6
MacBook Pro (retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)
Processor 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
I HAVE 166.27GB free of 250.14BG

Garageband is up to date. I always set it to the simplest configuration I can fathom. I've tried everything I can think of and spend hours and hours googleing.

Please help. It's such a same the amount of money I have spent on this computer and recording stuff and the amount of time I have spend trying different programs and googleing stuff and tinkering around and trying to record and just getting frustrated and in the end not being able to make music. I have make some pretty stupid midi things. https://soundcloud.com/scottlawrence
 
Part of the software that you would have downloaded and installed along with your UR22 would have been some sort of control panel application for the UR22. In that app, you can set your ASIO buffer size. A smaller buffer will yield lower latency but put more of a strain on the CPU. A larger buffer will yield higher latency but put less strain on the CPU. It's all about finding that balance for your computer. Lower the ASIO buffer size until you start getting pops/clicks/stutters in your audio. Then increase it a step at a time from there until the audio is flawless.

I have no idea if Garage Band even supports using ASIO drivers, but somewhere in there, there should be a menu in the options that will allow you to choose which audio device you want for input and output. Choose the ASIO drivers for your UR22 and not the default integrated sound card. If Garage Band doesn't support ASIO devices, then ditch it and buy software designed to be used in more demanding audio settings (Logic, Reaper, Cubase, etc).
 
The best way to prevent input monitoring latency is to use the interface's direct monitoring feature. That allows the input signals to avoid the round trip through the computer. But if you want to use amp sims live you have to go through the computer, which causes some latency. How much will depend on several factors like your computer's power, how much buffering your system is set to use etc. Current computers are pretty fast so setting the buffers as low as possible should get latency down to usable levels.

I can't help with Garageband.
 
Tadpui said:
Part of the software that you would have downloaded and installed along with your UR22 would have been some sort of control panel application for the UR22. In that app, you can set your ASIO buffer size. A smaller buffer will yield lower latency but put more of a strain on the CPU. A larger buffer will yield higher latency but put less strain on the CPU. It's all about finding that balance for your computer. Lower the ASIO buffer size until you start getting pops/clicks/stutters in your audio. Then increase it a step at a time from there until the audio is flawless.

I have no idea if Garage Band even supports using ASIO drivers, but somewhere in there, there should be a menu in the options that will allow you to choose which audio device you want for input and output. Choose the ASIO drivers for your UR22 and not the default integrated sound card. If Garage Band doesn't support ASIO devices, then ditch it and buy software designed to be used in more demanding audio settings (Logic, Reaper, Cubase, etc).
Click to expand...

When I open System Preferences and click on "Yamaha Steinb...g USB" Icon I message pops up that says:
"Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver V1.9.8
Copyright (C) 2009-2016 Yamaha Corporation
All Rights Reserved"

No options to do anything at all

In Garageband there options for choosing input and output where I choose the UR22 but nothing I can find about drivers.

I searched my mac for the phrase asio and realized I didn't have it. I tried to download it but only got a document called "usb_asio.sit" and when I open it its just a bunch of gibberish text...
 
I'm not a Mac guy, so I'll only be of limited help here. But I do recognize the .sit extension as a StuffIt file, which is Apple's version of a .zip file. It's a compressed file that will need to be extracted before being able to be run. Your computer should provide some way of extracting this file, but again, I can't really advise you there. We have a few resident Mac experts around here, hopefully one of them will happen by and be of assistance.

Also, make extra sure that you go ONLY to the manufacturer's website (in this case, Steinberg's website) and download drivers only from them. There are some sketchy jackasses out there that like to package malware and viruses with supposed "drivers" that prey on unsuspecting people looking for software. The manufacturer's website is really the only truly reputable place that you can trust for these things.
 
I've read a few things saying that GarageBand no longer offers buffer size adjustments.
If there's no workaround for this, and I'm not aware of one, I'd make the jump to better recording software.

It'll pay off in the long run anyway. Maybe Reaper or something?
 
Steenamaroo said:
I've read a few things saying that GarageBand no longer offers buffer size adjustments.
If there's no workaround for this, and I'm not aware of one, I'd make the jump to better recording software.

It'll pay off in the long run anyway. Maybe Reaper or something?
Click to expand...

I don't understand why anyone uses Garageband. I get that if it's the only thing you know, then it's the only thing you know. But five minutes of research will reveal a pile of better DAWs. I have a bud that just dabbles with recording and he used Garageband. He called me over to help him out and I wanted to smash his computer. I hated it. This was a long time ago. Maybe it's gotten better. It doesn't seem like it though.
 
GarageBand is a toy, get a proper recording program. Cubase should have come with your UR22. and then what Boulder sound guy said, use the direct monitor feature of your interface.
 
Chili said:
GarageBand is a toy, get a proper recording program. Cubase should have come with your UR22. and then what Boulder sound guy said, use the direct monitor feature of your interface.
Click to expand...

+1 ^ Note, Cubase is a "proper" DAW and as such is a pretty steep learning curve. It will however "sort out" the ASIO question when you come to set it up (AFAIK, I am another PC only bod) . There is probably no other recording software with so much help, info and tutorials out there!

My son was a fussy B about latency but got the fastest and most acceptable results from a 2496 card and Cubase LE6.

Dave.
 
I have had Garageband on my mac since I bought it and never used it - so I loaded it up. Ten minutes convinced me it's not a serious product, and designed for real entry level users. If it has any latency adjustments, they're not evident. There's no access to any of the usual advanced features. I had a copy of Cubase LE6 I got with a zoom recorder, so I've installed that. I'm a PC Cubase 8 user, and have been using that software for over 20 years. This has exactly the same interface as Cubase 8 I'm used to, and lets me set a buffer size for the external Lexicon I tried and the Apple built in sound.

On the built in sound system, the latency on the output is 14ms, which is quite acceptable - BUT - and this may be where it's going wrong, the latency on the input is a whopping 1056ms. Nothing I can do on the internal sound system seems to change this. The external Lexicon gives almost identical readings to the windows computers.

AHA!
Sorted it. I went to the device control panel in Cubase LE6, changed the sample size to 512, from 256. The latency values for input and output both then went to around 18ms, but moving back to 256 samples, the in and out latency now sits at 12ms input and 14ms output. Quite usable.

As garage band doesn't seem to have any method to adjust parameters of the sound device, you are stuck with what Apple provide, and while cubase can tweak the internal sounds, there seems no way to do that from the system preferences panel.

Personally, Garage band is painting by numbers - music by template. It can record audio, but has little editing capability. Good for the kids and beginners. It does have an upgrade path I see to logic - so it's not a serious product I fear.
 
Chili said:
GarageBand is a toy, get a proper recording program. Cubase should have come with your UR22. and then what Boulder sound guy said, use the direct monitor feature of your interface.
Click to expand...

I do have cubase... But its so complicated. I have spent time with it so I'm somewhat familiar with it but for me its like trying to learn how to use a program thats in Japanese when I dont know the language... Seriously, just trying to remember how to add tracks and arm them so I can record something make me want to pull my hair out. Or sometime I loose or get trapped in certain windows and end up having to google how stuff and then I get sidetracked googleing things because all the results I come up with are for every version of the program I have or are irrelevant and I just want to through the computer out the window.

I suppose Logic Pro Might be a good option for me but its i think at least $200 and I don't have the money for that right now. But What if I got an older version?

I'm not ruling out trying Cubase or other programs its just that I'm most familiar with Garageband.
 
That was always my main beef with Cubase. It's a very highly capable program, but it seems to make even the simplest tasks overly complicated. Same with Pro Tools. Just simply setting up a new track and getting the input set took a silly number of keystrokes/clicks.

Try Reaper. Nothing to lose, the trial is free. I immediately found it more intuitive than Cubase, and I converted and never looked back. At very least, it's worth a try.
 
scotter140 said:
I do have cubase... But its so complicated. I have spent time with it so I'm somewhat familiar with it but for me its like trying to learn how to use a program thats in Japanese when I dont know the language... Seriously, just trying to remember how to add tracks and arm them so I can record something make me want to pull my hair out. Or sometime I loose or get trapped in certain windows and end up having to google how stuff and then I get sidetracked googleing things because all the results I come up with are for every version of the program I have or are irrelevant and I just want to through the computer out the window.

I suppose Logic Pro Might be a good option for me but its i think at least $200 and I don't have the money for that right now. But What if I got an older version?

I'm not ruling out trying Cubase or other programs its just that I'm most familiar with Garageband.
Click to expand...

There is definitely a learning curve and it is steep. But it's worth the effort you put into it to learn the program, and recording in general. You're not taking on a simple hobby. Garageband dumbs it down so a kid could use it; lots of compromises along the way. Those compromises are biting you in the ass with latency.

Once you get past the technical hurdles, you can concentrate on being creative.
 
I'm a photoshop user - it's amazingly non-intuitive and I gave up twice before a I really understood it. Cubase IS complicated, but so is Logic and all the other software used by people who are not bare beginners. You need to put in the effort and learn a proper sequencer. Everything in Garageband seems so easy, but the first time you need to make some kind of tweak that it cannot handle, you will curse it. That's why most people start on the cut down versions of the big software, and then upgrading is easy (or at least easier). With Garageband, it's loop based approach is a real limitation to what it can do as your needs expand.

Why arm the tracks? just highlight a track, and then hit the record button and it works - the little red light popping on for you. Creating a track is right click, select what kind of track and it's done. Dragging a little icon of a piano or microphone is no easier. Today's session in the studio needed loads of tracks recording, so I just created 8 empty mono tracks, selected one, and while playing back, just hit the record button and away you go - it's really simple?
 
In any case, I'm glad to have my conformation that I can not do what I'm trying to do with Garageband and my setup and that its not just user error. Even though plenty of people DO use garageband to make music, maybe they are using apple or other hardware that doesn't require the same drivers...? It's funny noone ever talks about that when I've googled Garageband tutorials and such... Anyway, I'm glad I made this post and finally got the info I was looking for.

I guess I will give Cubase or Reaper another shot.
 
scotter140 said:
It's funny noone ever talks about that when I've googled Garageband tutorials and such... Anyway, I'm glad I made this post and finally got the info I was looking for.
Click to expand...

It's a relatively new thing. Garageband has always been a very basic tool/toy but previous versions did allow you to alter buffer size.
 
The thing with software designed for real musicians (and the same for video and graphics users) is that apart from very basic processes, everyone splits off into different areas, so things like Cubase, Photoshop, Premiere etc have loads of facilities every user doesn't ever use - but every user doesn't use the same ones! I've been using Cubase for ever, it seems and have only for the first time this week used a feature that was available on the very first version I bought - in black and white on an Atari 530 computer. They seem complicated because of the sheer number of menu items - but they are needed by some people. Learning a piece of software properly is well worth it.
 
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