Latency--what makes it? How to get rid of it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter kmartin
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kmartin

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Hi guys!
I'm running sonar X1 with an Lexicon Omega interface. My computer has pretty good specs:
Win 7 64 bit
Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM Processor (4 cores, 8 threads, 6M Cache, 2.00 GHz, turbo boost up to 2.9Ghz)
8Gb RAM

I'm trying to record with soft synths in real time, but I'm still getting too much latency to really be doable. It's *almost* doable, but not quite. Here's a screenshot of my latency settings in Sonar. If I take down the "Buffers in playback Queue" setting any lower, the sound stops coming through clearly (gets all choppy and stuff, sounds like a record skipping...idk what that's called in the recording world). And the buffer size is as low as it can go.

So, what causes this latency? I my computer is brand new, and with a quad core processor, and 8Gb RAM, I feel like it should be able to handle this easily. Is it the interface? Or maybe the drivers I'm using? (I'm still having trouble getting ASIO4ALL to work smoothly, so atm my driver setting in sonar is "MME(32bit)". I don't really know what driver that is, but it's the only one that worked :D:D) latency.webp
 
I wish they were all as easy as this.

You need to get either manufacturer ASIO drivers for your Lexicon Omega or persist with getting Asio4All to work.

MME stands for "Multimedia Extension" and is basically a programming interface developed by Microsoft for non-critical playback tasks. Latency is the amount of time it takes your computer software to process playback and MME is designed to, well, co-exist peacefully with other processes and let them take processor cycles.

ASIO was designed by Steinberg for low-latency audio working such as the sort of task you want.

I'd be surprised if Lexicon don't have ASIO drivers available for the Omega and this should be your first port of call. ASIO4ALL is only for gear that doesn't have it's own dedicated ASIO drivers.

Bob
 
I asked lexicon about ASIO drivers for the omega, the response I got was kinda confusing. There are ASIO drivers for it on their website (I've already downloaded them). But the guy I talked to on the phone told me to use ASIO4ALL. Idk. Thanks for the advice, I'll work harder to get ASIO working.
 
kmartin said:
I asked lexicon about ASIO drivers for the omega, the response I got was kinda confusing. There are ASIO drivers for it on their website (I've already downloaded them). But the guy I talked to on the phone told me to use ASIO4ALL. Idk. Thanks for the advice, I'll work harder to get ASIO working.
Click to expand...

That guy is a tool then. You want the driver for the Omega without question.
 
jimmys69 said:
That guy is a tool then. You want the driver for the Omega without question.
Click to expand...

Eh, I think maybe I'm just remembering wrong. I still don't know a lot about this stuff, but I new NOTHING then. I think maybe the drivers on the site are just USB drivers? Maybe not ASIO drivers. I have the drivers from the site installed already, but there's still only one ASIO option in sonar, and i'm pretty sure it's ASIO4ALL
 
They are ASIO drivers for a USB device. From the Devices menu on screen you posted, there should be a drop down menu showing your Omega. Select it. if not, download and install the driver from the Lexicon site. The driver on top @ Product: Omega | Lexicon Pro is the one you want to install.
 
More manufacturers are no longer making drivers for small channel count interfaces and just telling the user
to download and install asio4all.
 
jaygee said:
More manufacturers are no longer making drivers for small channel count interfaces and just telling the user
to download and install asio4all.
Click to expand...

Well, in this case, the latest driver for the Lexicon Omega was released 20 days ago. :D
 
jaygee said:
More manufacturers are no longer making drivers for small channel count interfaces and just telling the user
to download and install asio4all.
Click to expand...

Which manufacturers? I haven't encountered any yet.

We should have a list in the FAQs labelled "don't buy this one" that we can send newbies to. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of what the guy who writes Asio4All turns out but it was never meant to be anything more than a kludge, not a replacement for dedicated ASIO drivers.
 
I think I got it figured out. I was running ASIO4ALL and the omega drivers at the same time. I expected them to show up as two separate options in playback and recording tab, but instead, they both fell under the ASIO option. I uninstalled ASIO4ALL, and was left with just the omega stuff. It's working much better now. Though the omega drivers are really basic--not very many options. I think ASIO4ALL was working just as well...
 
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