Latency???

[skaman]

I have some basic (stupid) questions? I was user of cool edit pro 2, so I never had any problems with latency. But now I started with CUBASE sx! I wonder what is latency and how does it affect my recordings? For example, what means 20 miliseconds of latency? Does it mean that new track in my overdub is 20 miliseconds late when recorded and needs to be moved in timeline for 20 miliseconds?

[crankz1]

Latency is basically the amount of time it takes to hear a sound that is going in and back out of the computer. Mostly only an issue when doing live input monitoring with the use of effects or in MIDI situations using virtual instruments (delay between hitting a note on the keyboard and hearing it played back).
There is more to latency, but that is the gist of it.