Latency: how slow is too slow?

[coolsoundman]

hey folks,

i was wondering about latency issues concerining firewire. I have the presonus fp10 interface and i just hooked it up on to my new computer. i followed all the directions on installing the device and so far it all went well. so, now I open up Sonar and open up a project that I have been working on for a while. When I playback the song, I get a lot of pop or a ripping sound. But, when I first start the song, I get a drop out. So I look to see what my settings are first and then I see that it's at 8ms so I started to taper it down to 30 ms. Is this too slow or should I try other things first? Any suggestions?

 

[jerberson12]

You need to say something about your CPU. It plays a big role. 30 for me is a pain in the ass, 8 below should be consider good. If you look down-right on your Sonar, you should be able to see the CPU meter. When you play a music, and if it goes red, then you have a CPU issue.

 

[deshead]

When I playback the song, I get a lot of pop or a ripping sound.

That'll often happen if you use some resource-hungry soft synths, or a lot of FX and plugins.

so I started to taper it down to 30 ms. Is this too slow or should I try other things first? Any suggestions?

It's fine for mixing, but if you like to play your soft synths "live", anything over 10 or 15 ms will feel probably feel sluggish. 30ms borders on unplayable.

If you are using a lot of soft synths and plugins, you can try using Sonar's Freeze feature to free up the resources they're using. In general with Sonar, the fewer effects you're using, the lower you can set your latency.

 

[MCI2424]

Latency: how slow is too slow?


WHEN when YOUR your TRACKS tracks SOUND sound LIKE like THIS this YOU you HAVE have TOO too MUCH much LATENCY latency.............................................

 

[Farview]

Think about it this way: Sound travels one foot every millisecond (more or less), 10ms will be like playing 10 feet away from the speaker. Not a big problem. 30ms will be like playing 20 feet from the speaker, that can be a problem. You also ave to factor in that you might be standing 4 feet away from your speakers, so you are experiencing a 34ms delay.

 

[coolsoundman]

i think i got the latency down pretty good. i didn't know how to freeze a plugin, but i looked it up in the help file and i tried it myself. the freeze function worked pretty good. thanks for the help guys.