Latency correction question!

H

hansmoleman

New member
Hi,

Been looking round to try and work this one out, and there seems to be no definite answer other than reduce latency with faster hardware from the start. However...
I'm running a Lexicon Alpha into my laptop (i3, 8GB RAM) which is running Cubase (I've just switched from Audacity). Audacity used a latency correction that re positioned the track after the recording.
In Cubase, under device management it tells me latency is 36.077ms. Because I use hardware monitoring through the Lexicon which is no latency (or very low) does this not mean I can just correct latency is Cubase by exactly 36.077ms for every track I do? Why isn't this the standard answer, it seems too simple for latency to be such a huge issue!
What have I missed? (and how would I do this in Cubase 5 LE?)

Thanks!
 
Wow, 36ms latency is unworkable for me. I had the same problem when I started out in Cubase.

You need to reduce your buffer size. In Cubase, I used to go all the way to 256 through ASIO4All and never had a problem. If I recall correctly, my latency was around 6ms at this point and I never had an issue recording to a click. You can find it on Google.
 
As long as it's consistent, and you're monitoring external while you track, it doesn't really matter. Yes, you can set latency correction for 36 ms. Then if you add anything midi (that's not tracked) or sequenced in a VSTi, you won't have problems with sync. Also, you won't be able to follow a click. Adjust buffer size. Should be able to get your tracking under 10ms
For the most part, if you track everything, you don't even need to correct. How do you like the Alpha? Never heard anything good about them, but also not much bad. For $60 if it works you can't go wrong.

Latency correction should pre play the music, not reposition the recording. Sounds awkward.
 
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I think 36 ms would drive me crazy if I were playing piano or drums, but I'm already most the way there! :D
 
OP There is an ASIO driver for your unit. Download and install this and avoid the ASIO4All if possible. Once you get the driver set up, work with the buffer setting to get it as low as possible without it creating problems (you will have to adjust). Not sure how the driver allows you to set the buffer, but know you will have to set it. It should be in the instruction manual.

Do not use the ASIO4All if you don't need to.
 
It does drive me crazy! At first I thought I was just playing terribly until I worked it out! I do have an ASIO driver thing that I can adjust in the Cubase settings. I also had an ASIO driver I could manage from the start menu but for some reason it won't open like it used to, I might reinstall. Will ASIO4ALL give me better performance?
I did adjust the buffer but it introduced all these artifacts and issues, so I'm a bit stuck.
Further, I go back into Audacity and my latency correction setting that audacity uses to move the track to where it should be with zero latency (or there about's) is about 160ms! Why though if Cubase is saying 36.077ms is the value for the latency? Yeah you are right, the re positioning did sound awkward but it was the best I could do at the time before I got the Lexicon with Cubase (I was recording through a USB headset positioned close to my amp anyway!).

My issue is that I program drums and play over them, rather than recording drums
The Lexicon Alpha seems great, and yeah got it because of the price and you can't go wrong. I think when I'm fully set up and optimized it'll turn out to be a great little entry point to recording.

My PC is i3 2.40Ghz Quad core with 8GB RAM. It's no NASA computer but it's fairly quick and surely people have recorded on less. How can I optimize it all better?
Help has been great so far!
 
NEXT UPDATE:

I have changed the latency within Cubase to 10.00ms and I quick test showed no issues but thats recording 15s to a single drum track. I don't know whether more tracks will introduce more latency. The lowest I can change it to is 5ms but that introduces artifacts. 10ms seems ok but if I can do more to get it better I'm open to options!

Also I when I search ASIO in start menu I get:
ASIO Direct X Full Duplex Set up - I opened this and changed the buffer size from 2048 to 512 (which is the lowest it will let me go).That's for both input and output.
AND
ASIO Generic Lower Latency Driver Setup - this used to give me an option to change buffer size (I think I didn't know what it was when I first got it) but now it won't even open. I reinstalled the drivers that came with the Lexicon and its made no difference so I have no idea where it came from.
 
Hello,

hansmoleman said:
Hi,

Been looking round to try and work this one out, and there seems to be no definite answer other than reduce latency with faster hardware from the start. However...
I'm running a Lexicon Alpha into my laptop (i3, 8GB RAM) which is running Cubase (I've just switched from Audacity). Audacity used a latency correction that re positioned the track after the recording.
In Cubase, under device management it tells me latency is 36.077ms. Because I use hardware monitoring through the Lexicon which is no latency (or very low) does this not mean I can just correct latency is Cubase by exactly 36.077ms for every track I do? Why isn't this the standard answer, it seems too simple for latency to be such a huge issue!
What have I missed? (and how would I do this in Cubase 5 LE?)

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You need to change your Buffer size to a smaller one.
Inside of Cubase go to > Devices > Device setup > VST Audio System > ASIO Driver.
From the contextual menu select Lexicon USB as it is the driver of your sound card.
If you are on a Mac it should be there if you are on a PC please download and install the latest version form the Lexicon website.

Now go again to Devices > Device setup > Select the driver of your sound card (in this case Lexico) > click on Control Panel and select a smaller buffer size, that will change the latency.

Best regards,
GN

P.S. In this case I will recommend you to use the dedicated ASIO driver of the sound card instead of ASIO4ALL.
 
DM60 said:
OP There is an ASIO driver for your unit. Download and install this and avoid the ASIO4All if possible. Once you get the driver set up, work with the buffer setting to get it as low as possible without it creating problems (you will have to adjust). Not sure how the driver allows you to set the buffer, but know you will have to set it. It should be in the instruction manual.

Do not use the ASIO4All if you don't need to.
Click to expand...

But why? In my case this was many years ago and ASIO4All was the only way I was able to fix the problem. This was on a Vista set up and no other drivers would take. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Anyway, I'm all about recommending fixes when they work and warning against them when they don't. Being that you fall into the latter on this one, please at least explain why. I've heard people complain about ASIO4All elsewhere but since you strongly recommend against it I'd like to hear your take.

Anyway like I said, I was running Cubase on a Vista machine, after literally days and days of troubleshooting and trying every driver under the sun, ASIO4All fixed my latency issue and had no negative impact on quality or performance. YMMV.
 
That's what DM was about. You said it was the only way. That's what ASIO4ALL is about. If you have NO OTHER WAY. If you have a valid ASIO driver for YOUR piece of kit, use that and not ASIO4ALL.
Not meant to say it's trash, just if you can do it with drivers supported by the mfg., you are in a better boat.
 
OK, it seemed that everything was set up as it should be. I tried recording again and with the latency set to 10ms (and corresponding buffer) there was artifacts. The next level is 18ms which seems too high. What now?
 
OK, yeah, probably came up short in my initial post and failed to mention I basically could not get Cubase to work without <30-ish ms latency any other way (besides ASIO4All). Sorry if I confused OP or anyone else!

Bottom line: Best to go with prescribed drivers first to decrease buffer size and if all else fails, give ASIO4All a shot.

BroKen_H said:
That's what DM was about. You said it was the only way. That's what ASIO4ALL is about. If you have NO OTHER WAY. If you have a valid ASIO driver for YOUR piece of kit, use that and not ASIO4ALL.
Not meant to say it's trash, just if you can do it with drivers supported by the mfg., you are in a better boat.
Click to expand...
 
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