Hi, all. So here’s the latest from my ongoing latency crisis. I am using 2.05.0, and I installed via exe.
My computer: Windows 7, SP1. AMD Athlon II X2 215 2.70 GHz. 4.00 Gb RAM (3.75 Usable). 64-bit OS.
I ran the latency test (headphone/mic) with correction set to zero. Also, my audio to buffer setting is 150.
There was 236ms difference. So I set the latency correction for -236. WAY OFF. So I started doing it “manually” until it got close. The best I came up with was that -216 was too much correction, and -214 was not enough. Meanwhile -215 was too much or too little depending on the attempt.
SO, using -215 as the correction, I recorded four tests (muted each attempt, obviously, so it was always recording the original click track). Here is a screenshot. As you can see, I can’t get any of them to actually align. You can see the time measurements, and I highlighted the max deviation:
So, with all that said… is this standard variance? Should I adjust the buffer? Do I need more RAM? Anything else?
I presume that is with an "on board sound card? Computer manufacturers rarely spend more than a few cents on the sound card hardware.
You could indeed try increasing the buffer size, or change the “host” setting to “Direct Sound” and see if that gives more consistent results.
A better sound card would probably improve things, but that said, you will probably find is “good enough”. +/- 10 milliseconds is more than ideal, but not a huge amount.
The good news is that you have clearly got the method of setting up the correction right.
The worst problems are when the computer internal management is sloppy and the correction moves around, but as a musician friend once said, no orchestra or band has ever had everybody start at the same time.
If the timing is objectionable, you can use the Time Shift Tools to put everything right. So you can fix this in post.
If you do multiple tests and all the errors go one way, then that correction is obvious, but if the errors form a cloud, some up and some down, the best you can do is center the cloud.
If your computer management is a little sloppy, then you’re a candidate for the correction getting worse as you pile up multiple sound tracks.
There are limits to forcing a generic computer to be a Digital Audio Workstation.
