Is this a latency issue?

thebigcheese

thebigcheese

"Hi, I'm in Delaware."
I was doing some recording today and I noticed that my drumming wasn't matching up with the click and any overdubs we did on top of that wouldn't line up with the original recording. I know that the timing was correct during the recording, but it shows up as late. If I move it over, then it all lines up. Is this a latency thing? If so, how do I fix it? It's really annoying. I can't remember ever having this problem with Pro Tools (granted, I had a PCI interface back then), and I've come to really like Reaper and not having to spend tons of money on interfaces only to get shafted on features...

I'm using a Focusrite Saffire Pro 10 i/0 going into a Macbook Pro and running the OS X version of Reaper.
 
Ugh. I did some searching and from what I can tell, the issue is that the driver isn't reporting the latency correctly. Assuming that the latency stays consistent, I suppose I could set a manual offset, but is there a way to get it to report correctly? Is this just a problem with Core Audio drivers?

I guess one fix would be to get a different interface, like a MOTU that would use its own driver, but I was hoping for a cheaper fix...
 
Hmm. AppleFWAudio should be reporting latency correctly given that it was written by the same company that designed Core Audio.

I haven't had problems like that since the last time I tried to record with an application that didn't correctly get the timing information from Core Audio (and it might have been before Core Audio...), and I have used AppleFWAudio many times since then.

I strongly suspect that this is a bug in Reaper and not in the driver. Try running GarageBand and see if you have the same problem. If you don't, then you've found your problem.

BTW, how much offset are we talking about here, anyway?
 
I don't know much about GarageBand, but with the brief test I did, I didn't have any problems. I'm starting to suspect more that it is just a glitch with Reaper because it is a very odd set of circumstances that seems to cause the problem. It doesn't happen if I don't add any plug-ins to any tracks, and at first it seemed that it would happen if I added plug-ins at any point during the session, even if they were later removed, but now it seems that it only happens if I create a folder track. Even if I delete the folder track and put everything back to the way it was at the beginning of the session, I still have the problem unless I reboot the interface. I'm going to play with it a bit more later and see if it really is just the folders. If so, then the easy solution is to not use folders for now :)

The offset is a very noticeable offset. I don't have an exact number, but at 120 bpm, it was a good 16th note off or so.
 
thebigcheese said:
I was doing some recording today and I noticed that my drumming wasn't matching up with the click and any overdubs we did on top of that wouldn't line up with the original recording. I know that the timing was correct during the recording, but it shows up as late. If I move it over, then it all lines up. Is this a latency thing? If so, how do I fix it? It's really annoying. I can't remember ever having this problem with Pro Tools (granted, I had a PCI interface back then), and I've come to really like Reaper and not having to spend tons of money on interfaces only to get shafted on features...

I'm using a Focusrite Saffire Pro 10 i/0 going into a Macbook Pro and running the OS X version of Reaper.
Click to expand...

Yes, sounds like a latency issue. Try going into the settings menu and dragging it down lower. Maybe 15ms? That would be acceptable if your computer can handle it. It might be under the saffire ASIO controls.
 
thebigcheese said:
I don't know much about GarageBand, but with the brief test I did, I didn't have any problems. I'm starting to suspect more that it is just a glitch with Reaper because it is a very odd set of circumstances that seems to cause the problem. It doesn't happen if I don't add any plug-ins to any tracks, and at first it seemed that it would happen if I added plug-ins at any point during the session, even if they were later removed, but now it seems that it only happens if I create a folder track. Even if I delete the folder track and put everything back to the way it was at the beginning of the session, I still have the problem unless I reboot the interface. I'm going to play with it a bit more later and see if it really is just the folders. If so, then the easy solution is to not use folders for now :)

The offset is a very noticeable offset. I don't have an exact number, but at 120 bpm, it was a good 16th note off or so.
Click to expand...

Ah. So this is a lack of plug-in latency compensation in that code path. Definitely a Reaper bug.
 
dgatwood said:
Ah. So this is a lack of plug-in latency compensation in that code path. Definitely a Reaper bug.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is, probably just b/c the OS X version is still in beta. I know that if I put ReaVerb on individual tracks instead of a folder track, it would still line them up correctly. I was trying to reason out in my head how a bug would work where only folders would cause it, but you worded it in a way that makes sense to me. Thanks :)
 
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