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Are there known issues with track monitoring?
- Thread starter madFloyd
- Start date
If you strike a key on your keyboard controller or a digital drum kit and it takes a noticeable amount of time to be played by a virtual instrument then there’s actually 2 types of latency that are involved.
Midi latency and Audio latency.
Midi latency is the time it takes the midi data to reach the input of the Virtual instrument.
Audio latency is how long it takes to process the data and send it out to your speakers or headphones.
Midi latency of a simple system is normally around 2-6 ms.
You can measure it by recording a midi track and and an audio track together in an empty project.
You need to be using a ASIO audio interface that was tested and is reporting the correct latency to your Daw.
Place a Mike 1” from the keyboard. Record this and Zoom way in to the Millisecond level and observe how much longer it takes the midi note to be placed on the timeline.
Audio latency is dependent on how large of buffer setting you are using as well as projects with certain audio plugins can also add latency.
Bypass all the plugins and see if it improves the performance.
When you use the track monitor you are hearing the total round trip latency of your audio system.
This can be well over 10 ms which is noticeable to most people.
This is why audio interfaces include direct monitoring so you don’t hear that. But you have to use track monitoring for midi instruments.
Midi latency and Audio latency.
Midi latency is the time it takes the midi data to reach the input of the Virtual instrument.
Audio latency is how long it takes to process the data and send it out to your speakers or headphones.
Midi latency of a simple system is normally around 2-6 ms.
You can measure it by recording a midi track and and an audio track together in an empty project.
You need to be using a ASIO audio interface that was tested and is reporting the correct latency to your Daw.
Place a Mike 1” from the keyboard. Record this and Zoom way in to the Millisecond level and observe how much longer it takes the midi note to be placed on the timeline.
Audio latency is dependent on how large of buffer setting you are using as well as projects with certain audio plugins can also add latency.
Bypass all the plugins and see if it improves the performance.
When you use the track monitor you are hearing the total round trip latency of your audio system.
This can be well over 10 ms which is noticeable to most people.
This is why audio interfaces include direct monitoring so you don’t hear that. But you have to use track monitoring for midi instruments.
OP
OP
madFloyd
Active member
John, sorry to make you type all that. I was referring to a software bug. Whether what I'm experiencing is a bug in Studio Pro, a plugin - or something else remains to be seen, but it's not the text-book situation of not understanding DAWs or latency.
I can trigger a drum sample from my keyboard on an instrument track and hear the sample immediately. I can also have that same (drum) VST on another instrument track and the trigger latency is the better part of a second (as in, dramatically different).
I can record midi (not audio) from one track to another and the results (i.e. start position of midi notes on the newly recorded track) reflect this latency. The behavior is very strange because, recreated in a new song, it doesn't occur. And deleting every send/insert/plugin and tracks in the problematic song file doesn't resolve the issue. It all has to do with track monitoring and some sort of interference that I haven't been able to put my finger on.
I can trigger a drum sample from my keyboard on an instrument track and hear the sample immediately. I can also have that same (drum) VST on another instrument track and the trigger latency is the better part of a second (as in, dramatically different).
I can record midi (not audio) from one track to another and the results (i.e. start position of midi notes on the newly recorded track) reflect this latency. The behavior is very strange because, recreated in a new song, it doesn't occur. And deleting every send/insert/plugin and tracks in the problematic song file doesn't resolve the issue. It all has to do with track monitoring and some sort of interference that I haven't been able to put my finger on.
OP
OP
madFloyd
Active member
For anyone curious, here is an example.
In the screen snippet below, I can use my midi keyboard to trigger a drum sample. When I do so, it produces an audio signal on tracks 3,4 & 5 (i.e. the kick drum outputs from the VST), but there is a LOT of latency.
However, if I disable the plugin called True Amber on track 9 (which shouldn't be affected by a kick drum), there is no latency.
In the screen snippet below, I can use my midi keyboard to trigger a drum sample. When I do so, it produces an audio signal on tracks 3,4 & 5 (i.e. the kick drum outputs from the VST), but there is a LOT of latency.
However, if I disable the plugin called True Amber on track 9 (which shouldn't be affected by a kick drum), there is no latency.