How can I lower latency in SONAR XL 2.1?

  • Thread starter Thread starter antagony
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antagony

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Hi,

my latency is a little high, the lowest I can set it to is 22 ms.

I don't get it, I bought very good hardware, here is my setup:

Motherboard: Asus A7V333-RAID Via KT333
Memory: 1 gig Corsair PC2700 DDR333
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2200+
AGP: Jaton 3DForce2 MX32
Hard Drive: Primary - 10g (W.D. OEM label made by M.D.T.)
Secondary - Lite On CDRW 32x12x40
PCI cards: Inca 88 (slot 4)
Onbaord RAID Controller: 60g (W.D. OEM label made by M.D.T.)
O.S.: Windows XP Pro

any pointers?
thanks

Nick
 
Yeah, your rig should be able to handle very low latency. Maybe it's the soundcard driver? Is the Inca your soundcard? Are you using a low latency driver like a WDM driver?
 
You have forgotten to adjust the samples used by the soundcard in the Inca88 Control Panel. More samples used = more latency. Ok, here's how to do it:

  1. Click the "I" beside your clock on the Taskbar.
  2. In the "Inca88 v3.60 Console", select Config -> Samples -> Latency, and set it to 64 samples.
  3. In Sonar, run the Waveprofiler. Do NOT forget this point! The waveprofiler is found here: Options -> Audio.
  4. Now you should be able to set your latency as low as 1.5 ms, but raise it until you get no dropouts.[/list=1] As a reference, my Inca runs smoothly on 4.4 ms, and you have a faster machine then I have. :)

    Good luck!
 
http://www.musicxp.net/

check this link out for some tweaks in general.

The via chipset you have can cause some latency, the via/amd hybrid is recomended. I have the same chipset you do and through some tweaking and the advice posted by the others above you should be ok
 
try lowering your buffer size...the lower the buffer size, the lower the latencey, the more cpu it eats up.
 
...in addition to these gentelmen, avoid using plugins while recording.
;)
 
James Argo said:
...in addition to these gentelmen, avoid using plugins while recording.
;)
Click to expand...
Why? All hail Input Monitoring! :D
 
Using a soundblaster one can barely get the audio recorded. Plugins are way down the trail for a soundblaster user.
 
can I get "no" latency

Don't mean to hijack the thread but is there a no-latency monitoring feature in cakewalk like there is in Pro-tools???

As long as I can hear what I'm recording with no delay I would be happy getting this setup...
 
ranalli, Welcome to the board...

Some system (like pro-tools or RADAR) combined hardware & software, which should work in better way than software only (like Cakey or Cubase)... Latency is a price we have to pay here. Puzzle you kinda have to play with. If you're lucky enough to build a matching pairs make certain friendly system, yet know how to tweak it, then you can kick the latency. Otherwise, you loose the game, and must be happy with high latency.
Moskus brutha, inserting a plugins while tracking is good for input monitoring, but it takes CPU power cost. In certain way, it tends to cause audio drop outs combined with very low latency setting. So... better not use any for sure, unless you have no other options.
:)
 
James Argo said:
ranalli, Welcome to the board...

Some system (like pro-tools or RADAR) combined hardware & software, which should work in better way than software only (like Cakey or Cubase)... Latency is a price we have to pay here. Puzzle you kinda have to play with. If you're lucky enough to build a matching pairs make certain friendly system, yet know how to tweak it, then you can kick the latency. Otherwise, you loose the game, and must be happy with high latency.
Moskus brutha, inserting a plugins while tracking is good for input monitoring, but it takes CPU power cost. In certain way, it tends to cause audio drop outs combined with very low latency setting. So... better not use any for sure, unless you have no other options.
:)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome!!!

Well there are workarounds....going in through a small mixer first then to the hardware inputs. As long as it's not horrible I can deal....I'm thinking about getting a Sonar setup along with MOTU 1224 hardware. I guess this is a pretty common combo so I'm guessing it won't be too bad with fast computer.
 
You should be able to monitor directly from your soundcard with zero latency. Or as you stated, you can monitor from your mixer without latency as well.

The only downside is that you can't hear any software effects. If you want to hear the software effects, you have to monitor through Sonar and hence deal with the latency issue.
 
well, if I am recording 8 simultaneous tracks in SONAR how can I monitor exactly what I'm recording?
 
antagony said:
well, if I am recording 8 simultaneous tracks in SONAR how can I monitor exactly what I'm recording?
Click to expand...

With your INCA88 you have two ways. Either monitor using your card, or use Iput Monitoring. If your machine is stable with 6 ms (or less) latency I would recommend that you try Input Monitoring.

If not, use the Inca88's "HeadPhone and Monitor" button. You activate this button in the "Inca88 Console". Click on it, and it turns green. Now, press the different "Mix"-buttons under each input (or output) for that matter. Everything that has "Mix" activated under it, will be monitored. (I use Input Monitoring, not this method).

Input Monitoring with a desent souncard, multiple I/O, and low latency is a godsent if you record many sources at the time. Example: Using input monitoring and the bus'es in Sonar, it's possible to send out different mixes to the different musicians you're recording. Just add a headphone amplifier... ;)
 
Dear Dachay, I never monitor it through SONAR. I leave my mixer do this, but this latency problem still occur and very noticeable. Anyway, it's recording latency. When I record it, and monitor while recording, everything's just fine. But once it's done and I heard the result, whoops... it occurs. I zoom the wave block, and yess, it slightly move not excatly on measure/tick.
And I found Windows mixer can't do much on level monitoring as well. Whether I lower or raise the MIDI playback slider, the sound level still there, doesn't move. Ditto with line In. Whether I choose WDM or MME driver in SONAR. The only I can controll with the kernell mixer is recording source check box to choose the reording input source. Is that normal ? I mix several source at once. For instance , I get my kick drums sound as mixed of my several kit from SoundFont, Korg O5RW and N364. Each play different sound kit. I hook O5RW & N364 through mixer to Line in, record from Line in once, and Soundfont recording's done by MIDI as a source. So I got two audio tracks of different kick. When I'm about to mix them, they mess the timing :eek: So I route the SB Live! out through mixer along with two other, route back to Line in, and record them from Line In. It's better now, but what I record still slightly moves after few moment... :(

Antagony, I bet you wanna set the level & sound one by one. Set track one to get what you desire, then set track two, etc till 8. And start to hear two or three at once. and see the result before recording. Then you can get up to 8 at once. IMHO, I never take 8 shoot at once, without anybody else helped me there (If I was the one who's playing the instrument). I'll ask my band mate to help me monitor the result. Or, I'm not gonna be the part of the player there. Let the players do their part, and I'm sitting there monitoring and take the capture... How and what do you record anyway... No big monitoring problem with just converting 8 MIDI track to wave anyway... :)

;)
 
I tried recording today, everything went well except for 1 thing.

I need 48V of Phantom power for my 2 condensers, so I switched Phantom Power ON on the mixer. Then the sound card gave everything a wierd distorted robotic sound. Is this unavoidable if I need Phantom power on 2 of my mics?

my setup is the 1st post above and I'm running a Behringer powered mixer with 8 direct outs to the Inca 88's breakout box with 8 direct ins.

thanks
Nick Vasallo
www.antagony.com
 
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