MIDI latency Question

[twilsbach]

Warning, possible tldr below Hoping to pick a few of the many able brains here on the forums.Here are the specs of the system I'm working on:FWIW, this is also my Avid (video editing) machine and processes video just fineDell Precision Workstation 340Windows XP Pro Servide Pack 2Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz1GB of RAMI'm running Pro Tools LE 6.4 with a DIGI 001 as my DAW and I/O box.I have no problems with latency recording audio straight from a microphone or a direct line through the DIGI 001. But when I use my (super-cheap, hand-me-down) Yamaha PSR 225 keyboard, connected via MIDI through the DIGI 001 and triggering Reason 3.0 through the ReWire plug-in, I get a pretty hefty amount of latency. Approximately, 1/4 to a 1/2 a second. (ie, strike a note on the keyboard, hear that note from my studio monitors 1/4-1/2 a second later).Its not completely prohibitive to producing tracks at home, but it certainly isn't helping matters any. I end up performing the keys with the volume from the keyboard's on-board speakers up, so that I can get a better feel for what I'm playing relative to the rest of the already recorded track.Granted, I can edit and quantize after the fact and am sure I'll always have to do that to some degree. I'm assuming though, that I can make some changes that will shorten the gap and make it more performable simply listening to the sample thats being triggered.Confused yet? Good, keep reading. Here are my questions(keep in mind that a new CPU is not a reality right now, a couple more deals and we'll talk)-What can I adjust that will reduce this latency by as much as possible?--Are there Windows settings I can tweak that will improve computer performance, and will that make a difference where latency is concerned?--Does the quality of the keyboard make a difference in regards to latency?Thanks in advance for any help.

[stick]

I'm no PC guy, but I'd guess the hang up is the Rewire connection. Do you have Xpand (or any other RTAS instrument you can try) for Protools? It's free... if so, do you get the same latency triggering that? The keyboard isn't the problem. I'm impressed you can get anything done with that kind of latency... that would cause me convulsions.

[mazz]

I'm no PC or Pro Tools guy but if you have your audio buffers set high (512 to 1024 or above) you'll get this kind of latency on virtual instruments. It's not the keyboard.I'm assuming that you're monitoring audio from Reason back through a track or aux in Pro Tools. Try running Reason standalone and see if you get the same latency. It's pretty easy to adjust the audio buffer size in Reason and after you find the magic number, open Pro Tools and enter that number in it's buffer settings.Also, if you're monitoring back through any plugins, you're probably adding latency there as well.These settings are key to getting low latencies. I run my Digital Performer sessions at 256 for tracking and then go up to 1024 for mixing with lots of plugins to unload the CPU a bit.Hope this helps,Mazz

[gitarrero]

Quote:I'm no PC or Pro Tools guy but if you have your audio buffers set high (512 to 1024 or above) you'll get this kind of latency on virtual instruments. It's not the keyboard.512 samples is about 12 ms - which is noticeable, but not a huge latency. if I understand the post from twilsbach correctly than he gets about 250-500 ms latency - which IS noticeable of course (..I'd say: it's a pain in the a**! )

[ginstl]

Here's a link for tweaking XP for audio:http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep06/a ... 906.htmthe rest has to do with buffer settings, audio/midi card drivers being up to date etc.You could perform the midi track with the softsynth off, then turn it on when you are done recording it.. I'm not sure if RAM has anything to do with latency but I know 2 gb is probably min for running softsynths concidering other tracks running, services etc..Midi interface drivers themselves can cause latency.I heard 44.1Khz runs at 128samples per sec? not sure.Greg.

[twilsbach]

Quote:You could perform the midi track with the softsynth off, then turn it on when you are done recording it.. This is basically how I'm coping with it.Thanks for all the great feedback so far, I'll check those things out and keep you updated.

[twilsbach]

Mazz, you are my hero for the day.Here's what I did that worked:Setups> Playback Engine> H/W Buffer Size: Initially set to 1024 Samples, changed it to 128 SamplesThere is some popping and crackling in the audio playback at that setting, but the latency issue is gone. So, I'll do as was mentioned, perform the MIDI parts at a low Buffer Sample rate and switch it back to a higher rate for mixing.For the record the options were 128, 256, 512 & 1024Thanks again for everyones help.

[gatorjj]

Twilsbach, does the 001 have direct monitoring? I'm taking a stab that when you record your vocal or instruments you are hearing it straight back out of the interface, which is why you don't get any latency there, but hear it when doing things that have to go through the full computer (and buffers). It looks like you have it straight now though!

[steveha2865]

Did you select the Low Latency Monitoring option?The higher sampling speed you select, the lower the latency. Also, bounce the midi tracks to audio and temporarily disable the midi tracks after the bounce.Good luck.

[edteja]

Try 256 and you might eliminate the cracks and pops without increasing the latency too much.