latency and memory

[Joe Nerve]

...sounds like a paul mcartney song.

my laptop is 512mb and i'm adding another 512mb. will this have any effect on the latency that makes it impossible for me to record on this thing with?

don't know all that much about computers but my laptop has an AMD Sempron processor 3200+ (1.6 ghz, 512kb L2 cache). I'm using cubase LE. i would think that would be powerful enough.

[these_go211]

more memory always helps for sure. 1GB is good. for latency though i think processor speed is a lot more important. someone else is sure to chime in soon with either a confirmation of these and/or more details or to refute this. but it sounds like you have a decent setup.

[Batbass]

Hi Joe,
if I understood well your question, the most important thing are your soundcard drivers! Asio 2 drivers provide a really low latency until to 2ms. So IMO you should verify first of what kind of drivers come with your sound card and check on the company site the specs. Kx drivers seem to be good as well, check it out!
Of course it is also important to have a fast processor and a lot of ram to handle heavy VST plugins such as Kontakt 2, trilogy or other similar. Hope I was clear with my "Italian-English"

Ciao!!

Mauro

[WalterBush]

Your audio interface and its drivers are more important than either CPU or memory, although having too slow a CPU speed or not enough memory may add to latency, you'll never get faster than your audio interface's inherent latency, period.

Case in point; with a 2 GHz processor and 1/2 a gig of ram, using my Echo Layla 24 I was able to record 14 tracks at 16/44 simultaneously with 6 ms of latency, which is pretty much undetectable by the human ear, so it didn't interfere with monitoring. With the same setup, my Tascam US428 gets 20 ms for two tracks at 16/44, whether I like it or not, and I can only monitor the direct signal when I want to multitrack--the other is unlistenable.

Memory always helps regarding plugin instances, or post-fader monitoring while effects are in place, and will help with stutter-free playback if you have a high track count, but that by itself won't necessarily help your latency if you're trying to record and monitor live.

What kind of soundcard/audio interface are you using?

[Joe Nerve]

I know less than very little about this stuff.

I have an M-audio omnistudio usb interface that I tried to use w my old computer and the latency was ridiculous. I bought a zoom b21u multi effects and was able to somewhat record with that. it seems like sometimes the latency is worse than others. If I put down a rhythem track it seems to start of fine and as it moves along gets worse. First 10 seconds everything is on, by the time first minute is up it sounds like I suck. And i don't. Actually scared me at first - thinking damn, I just THINK I'm in the pocket. If I record drums and bass at that same time - I AM in the pocket.

Years ago, when hard disk editing was invented, I bought one of the very first systems. Digidesign session 8. Ran it on a 386 computer and never had any problems, not even running a whole band into it at once. The newer crap I either just don't have the patience to learn about, or it's just too much stuff going on for it's own good.

I really hope the ram thing is my only problem cuz I don't have the head to start figuring other stuff out.

[lemur821]

Like these guys said, it's all about your drivers. Check out http://www.asio4all.com/ if there's no ASIO driver for your card. You also need software that can use ASIO.

[csholtmeier]

The only thing that directly affects latency is buffer size and, to a lesser degree, samplerate.

http://www.elvenminstrel.com/recordi...002latency.htm


Check the chart, the vertical column (HWB) is hardware buffer size. If you're only playing back one or two tracks and recording one, with no plugins, you can get away with having a small buffer size even on a subpar computer.

What faster processors and increased RAM do is allow you to run dozens of playback tracks, synth tracks, and plugins while you record with a small buffer.

One of the most important aspects of DAW recording is learning the latency of your rig. Figure out what buffer size you can run without choking your computer. Monitor directly when you track. Slide newly recorded tracks back by your calculated latency.

For example, latency on my ProTools rig at my current buffer size is 64 samples. After I record a take, like clockwork, I slide the newly recorded material back by 64 samples. Everything is in time.

[Joe Nerve]

Originally Posted by lemur821

Like these guys said, it's all about your drivers. Check out http://www.asio4all.com/ if there's no ASIO driver for your card. You also need software that can use ASIO.

Could you walk me through this? I'm a little technologically challenged, and don't want to screw up my computer any more. It's slow enough as it is.

1. How do I know what driver I already have?
2. How do I know which of the plethora of things to download on the link above?
3. How do I know if it's better than what I already have?
4. Might it screw with everything else on my computer?
5. Are there 12 other things I'm going to need to do after I load those drivers that I don't know how to do that are going to render my computer useless?

Thanks.

[geoffkhan]

Though internal soundcards are usually the best, Firewire's much better for external soundcards rather than USB, since I believe Firewire streams the data and USB deals with it in packets. You can get much better latency with Firewire.

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

How do I know what driver I already have?

1. How do I know which of the plethora of things to download on the link above?
2. How do I know if it's better than what I already have?
3. Might it screw with everything else on my computer?
4. Are there 12 other things I'm going to need to do after I load those drivers that I don't know how to do that are going to render my computer useless?

It doesn't matter what driver you have now. What matters is (a) whether it has ASIO capability, and (b) whether you can get a driver for your sound card which provides ASIO capabilities. I don't know any way to check for existing ASIO cababilities other than to fire up a program that can use ASIO. Tracktion is the first that comes to mind. I think maybe Kristal Audio Engine does it too.

This software works on top of your existing driver, and won't damage or replace anything on your system. Using it should be as simple as installing, firing up your recording software, and telling it to use the proper device (which depends on the program in question, of course).

EDIT: The proper download link, should you choose to try it out, is one of the three at the top. The specific one depends on the language you want, of course.

[SBassman]

On the comical side -

The first time I recorded myself with a computer, before remembering about latency, when I played it back, I wanted to throw the bass out the window. I couldn't believe how bad my time was. [until realizing the computer hosed me]

There's actually a low tech way around this. It's not any good for multi-track, high fidelity attempts, but for simply recording to listen to yourself ...

If you open the Windows Volume Control, click Options / Properties / Recording / Ok / Stereo Mix, you can record while playing some other track / song. You won't have multiple tracks to mix, but you'll capture the result without latency. Then you can at least hear if your time sucks or not.