Sims vs Amp when practicing

[DWatson]

For almost ten years now I've been practicing through my PODxt pro and using the ASIO direct monitoring feature of my interface(profire 2626 at the moment)..which doesn't appear to me to have much latency..if any.

That being said, when I go to teach lessons or play guitar at someones house..I realize that I do miss playing through an amp..even the cheaper ones. Maybe it's the feel, or I just enjoy not having to be in front of my computer(which is distracting to me). I've been contemplating buying a small amp just so I have something to move around my place and not have to play guitar in the same spot of my apartment all the time.

 

[drew_drummer]

Bryan, something is fucking up your Firewire connection, or you're suffering from DPC latency.

Use this on your machine for a few minutes and see if you get any red spiking: http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

Disable any networking too and see if that improves things. If you're getting crackling on that sort of machine running at 64 buffer size, then something is wrong with your setup for definite. Also try another host and see if you get the same problem. Try turning on some of the asynchronous disk and buffer read/write options in Reapers preference too, but only as a last resort.

 

[HCL]

I don't think I'll ever prefer ampsims over the tactile and kinetic experience of a real amp. I like to feel the air moving and things vibrating, and static monitor speaker cones wont do that.

 

[bryan_kilco]

Bryan, something is fucking up your Firewire connection, or you're suffering from DPC latency.

Use this on your machine for a few minutes and see if you get any red spiking: http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

Disable any networking too and see if that improves things. If you're getting crackling on that sort of machine running at 64 buffer size, then something is wrong with your setup for definite. Also try another host and see if you get the same problem. Try turning on some of the asynchronous disk and buffer read/write options in Reapers preference too, but only as a last resort.

Ran that while Reaper was open and playing back with 4x ampsim/cab/etc, and it was good for the most part except I did get one red spike at one point. The crackling is still there even after disabling Network Adapters. It's not a huge deal, but does seem that something is not right.

 

[B36arin]

In Reaper, your latency is ms is shown in the upper right hand corner, correct?

In a Profire 2626, the lowest buffer size is 64. I have a pretty powerful PC that was just built for me about 3 months ago and just yesterday I was trying to record guitars at 64 sample buffer and was getting crackles and popping. Sort bothered me as this thing SHOULD be able to handle it, and according to Reaper, I'm right around 3ms latency at 64 sample buffer (only running L1 on master and 4 instances of TSE 808, X50, LeCab, and EQ). If I set it higher to 128 samples, the problem is gone but I'm getting 4.3 ms latency. =/ It really isn't enough to throw me off though.

I don't know about L1, but most limiters usually introduce additional latency. Try taking it off and see if it makes a difference. I can't track with limiters/VTM on the master bus, the latency becomes too noticeable straight away.