Anyone having any latency issues with USB?

[FractalAudio]

Does the amount of effects, amp sims etc effect the processing delay?


I guess I can test it when attempting to adjust Logic.

No

 

[slinky005]

Anyone know the equivalent offset parameter in Reaper?

 

[blearyeyes]

So far using USB for i/o in a aggregate with a Focusrite, click recorded to track and sent to axe fx ll mk ll via usb and returning direct L-R and effected L-R recorded onto 2 stereo tracks delay is 16ms direct and 17ms effected in relation to the original click. The effected was run through 1 amp and 1 cab.

I’m going to do further testing to determine delay with other configurations.

Thread in AXE FXll discussions.

 

[AlbertA]

Anyone know the equivalent offset parameter in Reaper?

Options->Preferences
Audio->Recording

There's "Use audio driver reported latencies". I would keep this checked if you are in windows. This means you can change the ASIO control panel buffer settings and Reaper will track accordingly.

"Output manual and Input manual" are the offset settings for output (playback) and input (recording). You can either input them in ms (first set of boxes) or in samples (which is what I use). Use these to adjust for the latency in the Axe-Fx III itself (mostly due to USB Buffer Size).

 

[dbarrow]

This fixed it for me. Thanks for taking the time to post the steps too

When you say "this" fixed it for me, what is "this" specifically? It might be helpful to others trying to solve this issue to know what "this" is.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[James Baker]

The post that was directly above mine

But the best you can do (with any audio interface) is to record the loopback and measure the latency yourself.

You can easily do this with the Axe-Fx III by connecting a cable from say output 3 L to input 2 L and create a preset that routes IN USB->OUT 3 Block. Make sure to increase the OUT 3 knob in the front.

Then in your DAW, set a click track or something with clearly defined transients, and send it to track 7 (IN USB L).
In another track, set it to record Input 7 (INPUT 2 L).

In Cubase you should adjust "Record Shift" by the amount of delay between the tracks. Re-Record the track, check and adjust as necessary until both tracks are aligned.

 

[Chuck100]

Is this true: the higher the USB buffer size, the greater the latency when recording via USB?

 

[bondsong]

Is this true: the higher the USB buffer size, the greater the latency when recording via USB?

Yes. That's what the buffer is. Basically it gives the computer a chance to process the data before it has to send it back out again. The way around this is to use direct monitoring on the interface so you are listening to what you are playing live with very low latency and hearing the playback from your computer at the same time. If you monitor the signal you're recording through your DAW then you will hear the latency so don't do it that way.

 

[Wired]

Indeed. Ideally the driver should report all of the latencies involved. Not many interfaces get this right however.



Right, It doesn't report all of the latency.
For example, in windows, it only reports the ASIO buffer size.
I assume it's similar with Apple's driver in OSX, where it may just report Core audio's buffer size.

Now, it appears the USB 2.0 UAC2 spec does provide a way for a UAC2 device to report its latency, but it's not clear if implemented that would be supported by Apple's driver. In Linux, ALSA doesn't seem to query this at all, so someone would have to add support for it. In Windows, FAS controls the driver so they could potentially make it work.

This becomes less of an issue as you lower the USB Buffer Size in the Axe-Fx III however.

But the best you can do (with any audio interface) is to record the loopback and measure the latency yourself.

You can easily do this with the Axe-Fx III by connecting a cable from say output 3 L to input 2 L and create a preset that routes IN USB->OUT 3 Block. Make sure to increase the OUT 3 knob in the front.

Then in your DAW, set a click track or something with clearly defined transients, and send it to track 7 (IN USB L).
In another track, set it to record Input 7 (INPUT 2 L).

In Cubase you should adjust "Record Shift" by the amount of delay between the tracks. Re-Record the track, check and adjust as necessary until both tracks are aligned.

I just followed your instructions and found them really helpful. Was able to get my recording delay set in Logic. Thanks!

 

[tla]

I never really understood why there are two options to change buffer settings: There are the ones you can set in the FASUSBAudio Control Panel (8-2048 samples) and the ones you can set under Setup/I/O/Audio (8-256 samples)on the device itself. Can anyone explain what the difference is between them?

 

[mr_fender]

My understanding is each device has its own set of buffers. The setting in the I/O menu controls the hardware buffer on the Axe FX side, while the ASIO buffer in the driver settings is for the computer side software buffer. Someone please correct me if I'm off on that one.

 

[AlbertA]

My understanding is each device has its own set of buffers. The setting in the I/O menu controls the hardware buffer on the Axe FX side, while the ASIO buffer in the driver settings is for the computer side software buffer. Someone please correct me if I'm off on that one.

yep that’s it

 

[tla]

My understanding is each device has its own set of buffers. The setting in the I/O menu controls the hardware buffer on the Axe FX side, while the ASIO buffer in the driver settings is for the computer side software buffer. Someone please correct me if I'm off on that one.

Thanks for the clarification.
If that's the case, shouldn't there be one perfect setting for the Axe FX? One that would perfectly fit the processing power of the Axe? Or does it depend on how sophisticated your presets are?

 

[sixtystring]

I'm having issues in Reaper 6.28 getting the manual recording offsets to remain consistent between projects. It seems to change at random. Maybe I'm misunderstanding or doing something wrong?

• Windows Driver ASIO Buffer Size set to 128 samples Safe Mode checked.
• Hardware Setup menu USB Buffer Size on the Axe-FX III is set to 256
• Tbh, I'm not sure I understand the Axe-FX Hardware's USB Buffer Size purpose...
• Reaper set up with "use audio driver reported latency" and adjusting for the offsets as described below

Here is what I am doing in a blank project:

Track One, routed pre-fader to Hardware Out 7/8 (IN USB block). Mute master send. (There is click track audio on this track)

Track Two set to record from USB IN 1/2 (Output 1 block)

Hit record a few bars ahead of where the click audio starts

Measure the # of samples offage and enter into "input manual offset" in Reaper options. In this particular case, the value was 998. Re-record and it lines up where it should.

Open a different existing project, leave the setting at 998. Do the same test and the 998 offset is not accurate for the new project. If I go back to the original blank project and repeat the first test, the 998 value no longer works properly. I have been chasing my tail for a few days trying to figure out what's going on.


Am I correct in understanding that this must be done separately for each project or am I just messing something up?

edit: Sounds like I am having the same problem as @steadystate here: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/axe-fx-3-and-latency-in-reaper.158018/