USB Latency problem

mattseed

mattseed

Inspired
Hi guys I have just done an A/B test recording using an analog out XLR and a USB cable. No matter what I do I can't get rid of some latency that's driving me mad. I use Logic Pro X I even put the input buffer down to 32 and it is still there. It's not there at all using the XLR......but I want to use USB really.

Any tips would be lovely.
Thank you
matthew
 
Thanks for that, is that what folks are doing and is that the answer.......what I'm asking is the, latency won't go away on USB then ? My worry is that I don't really want to be recording at buffer size 32 it tends to glitch, I usually use 128. But by then the latency is quite noticeable....would it not be an issue of being actually late?

Thanks for any help. Matt
 
Yes, go to the FASUSBAudio Control Panel, set the Buffer setting to a lower setting. I have mine at minimum latency, 64 samples.

Buffer size is what creates the latency.


Edit: i just noticed you are on Mac. It is not on the mac.
 
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Thanks for that. Sorry but I wasn't aware there was an FASUSB audio control panel. I was just setting the buffer in Logic Pro ? How do I access it please ?
 
mattseed said:
Thanks for that. Sorry but I wasn't aware there was an FASUSB audio control panel. I was just setting the buffer in Logic Pro ? How do I access it please ?
Click to expand...

That is PC only. In Mac you set it in the application like you are doing.
 
I don't know how to Quantify it, it's painfully long but just enough to be distracting whilst playing. Does anybody record with USB with no latency in any way ?
 
mattseed said:
I don't know how to Quantify it, it's painfully long but just enough to be distracting whilst playing. Does anybody record with USB with no latency in any way ?
Click to expand...


There is no such thing USB or otherwise when recording to a computer. The Audio has to be buffered and processed. This causes latency. You can get the latency pretty low in most cases 6-10ms. 6ms is equivalent of standing 6 feet from a sound source. This would not be perceptible. I can get the latency unnoticeable on my setup.

If you want to avoid the latency all together from the digital recording, mute the track you are recording and monitor through the Axe-fx.
The reset of the tracks will play through the Axe-fx, but the Axe-fx will be monitored directly instead of through the computer.
 
No there's no way to get rid of the latency, it's a fact of life. I actually quite like it. If it's around 10ms it makes things easier to play. There have been studies that show musicians can happily 'sync' up to about 20ms on stage.

If you don't like it then you have to monitor via hardware; in this case the AFX. Logic, or whatever DAW you are using, takes care of making sure the recorded tracks are in sync.
 
Another thing to consider is how much the USB is being utilized. It's an interrupt-driven port, and the devices on the chain will control latency to some degree. If you've got an external HDD, mouse, keyboard, audio, MIDI, expansion port, etc. all barking for attention, then communication service time slows down while each device gets its share of the pie. Also, if something on the bus drags the link down by running at USB1 vs. USB2 or 3, then everything gets dragged down. The usual solution is a faster machine that can service the ports almost instantaneously, but you can also spread the load by using more than one machine. That's sort of the idea behind the 11 Rack. Unloading the processor by off-loading tasks has the effect of speeding up the processing.
 
Thanks for all the input guys.....I'm starting to think that analog XLR is just gonna be easier. I was worried about using XLR out as of course that's one DA the my interface has another AD to do before it hits Logic Pro. But does that really cause any issues and anything noticeable over using USB ?
 
mattseed said:
Thanks for all the input guys.....I'm starting to think that analog XLR is just gonna be easier. I was worried about using XLR out as of course that's one DA the my interface has another AD to do before it hits Logic Pro. But does that really cause any issues and anything noticeable over using USB ?
Click to expand...

Very little at all.
 
mattseed said:
Thanks for all the input guys.....I'm starting to think that analog XLR is just gonna be easier. I was worried about using XLR out as of course that's one DA the my interface has another AD to do before it hits Logic Pro. But does that really cause any issues and anything noticeable over using USB ?
Click to expand...
I use s/pdif out from the Axe, into my audio interface / DAW. There is no perceivable delay as far as i can tell, because my audio interface has a zero latency 'software mixer / monitor'. I'm using RME UCX for this, but some other interfaces have this feature as well.
 
Thanks guys....I'm using a RME Fireface 400 ! Do you reckon SPDIF would have zero latency with this interface, might be worth a go.
 
mattseed said:
Thanks guys....I'm using a RME Fireface 400 ! Do you reckon SPDIF would have zero latency with this interface, might be worth a go.
Click to expand...

I'm not certain, but it looks like Totalmix is zero latency or very low latency. I think the fireface 400 comes with totalmix...
 
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