Recording and playback with audio interface - what am I missing?

[DJS]

I just picked up a Mackie Onyx 1.2 and downloaded Audiacity in the hopes that it would allow me to record a bass part to a song my band is working on.

Here's how I think it should work. Please tell me where I'm wrong.

1. Open up the bass-less rhythm and vocal track in Audacity.
2. Hit Record
3. Track plays in my ears, I record to it (also hearing my bass)
4. I save my part, and send it to the recording guy

So far I've managed to test record some bass with the track. Except there is a delay in my headphones which are plugged into the Onyx. This must be latency? I see clunky procedures to correct it, but they seem mic-centric and I wasn't able to duplicate the procedures exactly either.

So - am I doing this right? Is there an easier way? Thanks in advance!

 

[silky smoove]

If you're monitoring through software there's going to be latency. It is unavoidable due to physics. If you're monitoring through your interface, if it allows for that functionality, there will also be unavoidable latency due to physics but likely a considerably smaller amount.

Without knowing more information it's not possible to give you a meaningful answer. Do you have all of the current drivers for your interface installed? Does your interface have its own software mixer that operates externally to your DAW? Which operating system are you running? If it's a Windows machine have you looked into ASIO? What else is operating within your DAW? What else is running on your computer?