15 Aug
2009
15 Aug
'09
10:22 p.m.
While I'm posting newbie questions...
The Multiface has its own hardware monitoring, its own headphone output,
and its own very thorough digital mixer with all kinds of internal
routing options, all configurable from the HDSPmixer program in Linux.
With this being true...
...does latency even matter? Is there any reason I need to shoot for
low latency at all if the card is providing its own monitoring functions
in hardware? Is there any other benefit in Ardour, Linuxsampler, or
anywhere else really, to having <5ms latency in Jack? Just
wondering...I've been seeing a lot of posts online implying that it's
just a matter of making laying down new tracks over existing material
seem less lagged.
If that's all it is, I'd imagine the system could breathe a bit easier
with less aggressive settings.
--
+ Brent A. Busby + "We've all heard that a million monkeys
+ UNIX Systems Admin + banging on a million typewriters will
+ University of Chicago + eventually reproduce the entire works of
+ Physical Sciences Div. + Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet,
+ James Franck Institute + we know this is not true." -Robert Wilensky
15 Aug
15 Aug
11:52 p.m.
On Sat, Aug 15, 2009 at 8:22 PM, Brent Busby<brent(a)keycorner.org> wrote:
...does latency even matter? Is there any reason I
need to shoot for
low latency at all if the card is providing its own monitoring functions
in hardware? Is there any other benefit in Ardour, Linuxsampler, or
anywhere else really, to having <5ms latency in Jack? Just
wondering...I've been seeing a lot of posts online implying that it's
just a matter of making laying down new tracks over existing material
seem less lagged.
If you are recording software instruments played live, or you need to
hear any in-line software effects on your live playing while
monitoring, those are the kinds of situations where running with small
buffers (low-latency) is really needed. So if you are playing
LinuxSampler live from a keyboard when recording, you will probably
start feeling uncomfortable with high latency, but it all depends on
the instrument, style and person where the breaking point is.
If you're recording from mics, hardware instruments, etc, then by all
means lighten the CPU load by cranking up your buffer sizes. Most
good recording software (including Ardour) does proper latency
compensation to get your tracks lined up correctly regardless of your
buffer sizes. You can even get away with using SW reverb added to the
monitoring mix since latency isn't as big deal for such an effect
(with the proper settings).
jlc
16 Aug
16 Aug
5:39 a.m.
There is a lot of guesswork with latency.
There are latencies in your cards A/D and D/A converters which probably
aren't quoted anywhere. Any SoftSynths or effects you use will have
internal latencies, which (although probably quite short) will add into
the overall - as will the jack latency of connecting one to the other.
External hardware synths, mixers etc. will all have latencies of their
own, some tiny some significant, many variable!
Having said that I do my work with latency in jack set to either 5.8 or
11.7. Only occasionally do I have to re-align tracks to take this into
account (usually when taking a MIDI controlled hardware synth through
JAMin).
As a side issue, JAMin has an unusually high internal latency, which it
HAS to have in order to do some of its magic. I would guess that many
LADSPA effects would have the same issues.
Finally, bear in mind that a real instrument like a cathedral organ has
a mechanical latency of at least 50mS, and if it has a 64ft register
this goes up to around 200mS, yet people can still play them very
effectively!
--
Will J Godfrey
http://www.musically.me.uk
5572
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participants (3)
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Brent Busby -
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Jesse Chappell