I record with a line 6 pod and if I use the lower buffering settings I get a 8 ms latency. It might just be in my head, but I think I can notice. The low buffering makes my mac slower though, so it's far from an optimal setup anyways. How do I get less latency without using low buffer? I thought an interface (i suppose the pod is that?) would solve that.
Can someone explain latency?
- Thread starter blackbull
- Start date
Headof75
Somewhere in Brum
- Jun 16, 2008
- 238
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Latency is the amount of time it takes for an input signal to pass through your recording chain and be audible through the monitors. The longer the latency the more audibly delayed the signal will be. It is affected by the amount of equipment the signal passes through, the length of your cable runs, and, in your case, by the buffers on your DAW and the number of plugins that are enabled on the song you are recording. In the analogue domain latency is caused by the physical distance the signal has to travel. In the digital domain by the amount of processing power that is being used at the time of playback/recording thereby slowing down all processes. If you adjust the buffer size in your DAW up you will make more processing power available to plugins and effects and less to accurate monitoring of live inputs and outputs. If you want accurate monitoring lower the buffer size and disable all the plugins you can. Of course if your workstation is powerful enough this is less of an issue in the first place.
With regard to your specific latency I'd be surprised if your recordings were suffering from a latency of 8ms. I'm not saying you can't hear a difference (how would I know?) but in my experience I've found latencies as high as 12ms perfectly useable without affecting things too badly.
Finally, you are right, better interfaces will improve your latency. I can't speak for Focusrite stuff that seems popular here, but I use an RME Babyface (which has an onboard processor of its own) and can achieve latencies of 1.5ms with the lowest buffers and no plugins.
With regard to your specific latency I'd be surprised if your recordings were suffering from a latency of 8ms. I'm not saying you can't hear a difference (how would I know?) but in my experience I've found latencies as high as 12ms perfectly useable without affecting things too badly.
Finally, you are right, better interfaces will improve your latency. I can't speak for Focusrite stuff that seems popular here, but I use an RME Babyface (which has an onboard processor of its own) and can achieve latencies of 1.5ms with the lowest buffers and no plugins.
Alright thanks.
I'm also wondering if I should use the pod as the sound card, or just input. I remember reading on killrbuckeye's site a while ago and he said that for his original songs he used the pod as an external soundcard. What difference does that make?
oh and another question..
If I get an interface with really low latency, will it work with pod farm perfectly? And does ampsims like podfarm create any latency on it's own?
I'm also wondering if I should use the pod as the sound card, or just input. I remember reading on killrbuckeye's site a while ago and he said that for his original songs he used the pod as an external soundcard. What difference does that make?
oh and another question..
If I get an interface with really low latency, will it work with pod farm perfectly? And does ampsims like podfarm create any latency on it's own?
LeSedna
Mat or Mateo
All plugins do except of they have a live mode (but technically still induce latency, it is just lowered, some of them being able to introduce only a few samples latency).
You shouldn't be bothered by 8ms latency, I don't say you can't notice it but it's officially less than usually accepted for live playing. Also, if you take the speed of sound, it is equivalent to being 2.4 meters in front of your amp (maybe less because I didn't include the slight latency that might be caused by your amp itself depending on its design, although I don't think a simple head would induce that much latency since electricity travels at an electromagnetic wave speed). So when you stand in a rehearsal room, you have more than 8ms latency, easily. Hence why I think it's psychological to be bothered by such a low latency.
And you can use pod farm with any interface as long as you own the plugin version, that you can load in your vst, instead of just the software you record through as if it was your amp.
If you don't want to use both its input or soundcard, I think the line6 product is not worth it. It has mediocre (compared to semi pro or pro gear) converters and DI input. If you are using it only as a soundcard you would be better with as said previously a little interface like the baby face, a Duet, a profire, something like that with 1 or 2 sets of line-mic input, and a dedicated DI box. Not that you can't have a good tone out of your line 6 input, but you are limiting its qualities. I was blown away the first time I used my DI box, the lowend of my guitar DIs was clearer. The other thing is that the dedicated interface would have better DA converters too and if you plug in a pair of good headphones you will hear a difference immediately. My Duet kills my profire 2626 on this level which is already a decent interface (but for the same price it has to offer 4 times more inputs which explains the difference), so I don't even imagine how much more precise It is than a line 6 output ! It's not enough to be a good producer, and Erik has done great tracks out of his line6 interface, but it does make a difference and the investment is minimal.
You shouldn't be bothered by 8ms latency, I don't say you can't notice it but it's officially less than usually accepted for live playing. Also, if you take the speed of sound, it is equivalent to being 2.4 meters in front of your amp (maybe less because I didn't include the slight latency that might be caused by your amp itself depending on its design, although I don't think a simple head would induce that much latency since electricity travels at an electromagnetic wave speed). So when you stand in a rehearsal room, you have more than 8ms latency, easily. Hence why I think it's psychological to be bothered by such a low latency.
And you can use pod farm with any interface as long as you own the plugin version, that you can load in your vst, instead of just the software you record through as if it was your amp.
If you don't want to use both its input or soundcard, I think the line6 product is not worth it. It has mediocre (compared to semi pro or pro gear) converters and DI input. If you are using it only as a soundcard you would be better with as said previously a little interface like the baby face, a Duet, a profire, something like that with 1 or 2 sets of line-mic input, and a dedicated DI box. Not that you can't have a good tone out of your line 6 input, but you are limiting its qualities. I was blown away the first time I used my DI box, the lowend of my guitar DIs was clearer. The other thing is that the dedicated interface would have better DA converters too and if you plug in a pair of good headphones you will hear a difference immediately. My Duet kills my profire 2626 on this level which is already a decent interface (but for the same price it has to offer 4 times more inputs which explains the difference), so I don't even imagine how much more precise It is than a line 6 output ! It's not enough to be a good producer, and Erik has done great tracks out of his line6 interface, but it does make a difference and the investment is minimal.
