damn latency!

  • Thread starter Thread starter WallySound
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WallySound

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I need to use my Vista, HP dv6000 laptop through Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speakers as a live PA. I initially purchased a cheapo mic- SAMSUN R10S (go ahead laugh, audiophile). Next I downloaded Audacity.

It now works as a PA, but latency is bad- maybe 500ms. What is the CHEAPEST functional solution? Will a $40 external sound card fix the latency? If so please suggest a specific product.

I'm not being cheap, this setup is for the non-profit org. I work for. We just want a live PA with as little $$ as possible.

Thanks in advance for taking your time to answer!

WallySound
 
Using built in audio isn't ideal, but this is one of the exceptions where it might be fine.
Latency can't be eliminated (with what you have), but you should be able to reduce it.

Go through audacity's device settings or input settings looking for hardware buffer size.

If it is set high, like 512 or 1024, reduce it as low as it will go without problems.
64 is probably realistic and should reduce your latency to an acceptable level.


If it doesn't, then yeah, an external interface with better audio drivers might be in order.

If you literally just want a small PA, it might be better looking for an old cheap PA amp in your local adds.

Maybe stick an add in, "Wanted small PA or vocal amp for charity organisation".
You never know what you might get.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Using built in audio isn't ideal, but this is one of the exceptions where it might be fine.
Latency can't be eliminated (with what you have), but you should be able to reduce it.

Go through audacity's device settings or input settings looking for hardware buffer size.

If it is set high, like 512 or 1024, reduce it as low as it will go without problems.
64 is probably realistic and should reduce your latency to an acceptable level.


If it doesn't, then yeah, an external interface with better audio drivers might be in order.

If you literally just want a small PA, it might be better looking for an old cheap PA amp in your local adds.

Maybe stick an add in, "Wanted small PA or vocal amp for charity organisation".
You never know what you might get.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the help Steen. I had a look at the recording preferences and got
LATENCY
audio to buffer: (100ms)
latency correction: (-130ms)
Is this the same as hardware buffer?
What next?
 
No problem at all.

I forgot to say, Welcome to the forums. :)

As far as I know, you can manually specify the latency amount.

Obviously if you go to low it'll fail, but try halving it and see how you go.
 
Thanks for the welcome. I kept adjusting the latency down as you suggested and finally arrived at "0".
That adjustment brought latency down to very acceptable levels.
Your advice was great, and we thank you greatly!
 
Anytime,

Just be sure to test it out fully before it matters. Going too low can make the computer work too hard.

Best of luck.
 
Can you adjust the recording latency in your DAW? If the latency doesnt vary you can just work out exactly how much latency there is, and tell your DAW to compensate for it... at least thats what I do!
 
Will the real Wally S please stand up, please stand up....

I must be bored. That was lame....
 
I believe a better software solution would be using Reaper with ASIO4ALL. Both are free downloads. (Reaper will nag you for a few seconds at startup until you register it but it is cheap if you decide to register.
Google ASIO4ALL and download the driver and install it. Then chase down Reaper and install that. When you start Reaper for the first time it will ask you to set up your audio device. Point it to ASIO and ASIO4ALL should be one of the choices. Then select your laptops input and output devices in ASI4ALL's control panel and adjust the buffer until there is a small latency but no crackling and that will be all. Even with crappy onboard sound you should manage to get latency down to less than 10ms easily. I sometimes use my onboard sound (some generic realtek codec) when I'm too lazy to hook a bunch of stuff up and can get down to 2ms. Good luck.
 
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