bdemenil said:what soundcard are you using?
soundcard drivers and recording software are supposed to communicate and compensate for buffer latency. If that's not happening, then there's something wrong with the drivers. This problem exists for instance with Maudio delta drivers versions 27 and earlier.
crankz1 said:Make sure to use either the WDM drivers or the ASIO. MME drivers aren't really the best choice.
If ASIO drivers don't show .... click the "Advanced" button and make sure they are set to be shown.
The Audiophile doesn't have an internal synth, that's why the metronome is only sounding via the PC speaker. The latency of the MS wavetable soft synth makes it pretty much useless as the MIDI output.
Best bet may be to create a click track by other means, instead of using the metronome.
bdemenil said:SPDIF is a type of digital output - not MIDI. You can also choose the number of input and output chanels in the recording settings (reached from the recording vu meter).
ASIO and WDM drivers are more advanced and can provide much lower latency. MME drivers are pretty much useless for pro audio.
Mon Mixer stands for Monitor Mixer, which is a hardware mixer which is part of your audio card. Your ins and outs can be routed through the card's mixer with practically 0 latency. The mixer can be used as an output or an input. It is controlled via software which is installed with your audio card driver.
I think you should read up a bit on digital music. Can some suggest a good series of online articles?