Lag

[Gentlemaneddie]

Hi all!

I have recently purchased Korg Nanopad2. I'm using Cubase SX and I have some problems with lags when playing the Nanopad. That is when I push a button on the Nanopad the sound comes about a microsecond later which makes it impossible to play (especially since I have the bad habit of recording guitar first).

I have tried to play around with different ASIO settings and stuff but nothing has really done the trick.

Does anybody have any ideas?? Would be eternally greatful.

Thanks
GE

[Yoa]

Best you can do is set the audio latency settings as low as possible while still getting clear sound. There's going to be some latency - that's just something we'll have to live with until supercomputers become affordable. I've found that even as high as 66ms total isn't bad to play with.

[Gentlemaneddie]

Thanks for your reply.

Do you by any chance know where/how I can set audio latency settings in Cubase SX. I'm not very good at this stuff, so I would appreciate some pointers.

Thanks again.
GE

[xmlguy]

Are you using the sound chip on the motherboard? Or are you using a low-latency professional audio I/O box? The latency settings are usually in the sound driver, but setting a lower latency value in the driver than what the hardware can support won't solve the problem. It can cause a new problem: distorted or choppy audio that sounds terrible. An ASIO driver can only reduce latency caused by the driver, not the latency within the hardware itself.

The audio latency problem likely has nothing to do with the NanoPad.

[Gentlemaneddie]

xmlguy

Thanks for your reply. I'm ashamed to say that I have no idea if I'm using sound chip on motherboard or a low-latency...box (not a very technical guy I'm afraid). What are the differences between the two?

My gear is:

Nanopad2
Cubase SX
Line 6 Gearbox external soundcard (although i'm not plugging the Nanopad in this)

I don't think it has anything to do with the Nanopad either, but recording analog instruments through the Gearbox works perfectly, so I guess there must be some kind of setting within Cubase that I need to adjust, but I'm not sure which.

[xmlguy]

The Line 6 Gearbox is a low-latency audio I/O box. That means it can do low latency if you set up the driver properly and have a fast enough computer to do it. It has several options to adjust the buffer size for the audio drivers presented to DAW software and for direct monitoring of the audio from the box. You need to go to the Line6 website to get the manual and latest version of the driver/application software for your specific model and operating system. You have to do this before attempting to use it in Cubase or other DAW software because the driver controls the latency and what will be listed or available in the DAW. Smaller buffer sizes will reduce latency but increase computer CPU processing overhead. If you get distorted or choppy sound, it's probably because the buffer is too small and your CPU too slow for that buffer size and latency. If the latency is too high, then the buffer is probably too large and needs to be reduced so long as your CPU can handle it without the audio breaking up.

There might also be an option in the Line6 software to set up a VST for Cubase to control and automate the features of the GearBox. The owners manual will probably show what you need to do in Cubase after the driver has been configured. You can test the latency and operation of the Gearbox using simple audio playback/recording apps before setting up Cubase.

[Gentlemaneddie]

wow!

thanks a bunch!

Will try this out and experiment with buffer sizes.

Cheers
GE

[Yoa]

Sadly, I don't use Cubase, so I can't say for sure. It should be somewhere in the audio preferences.

Though xmlguy is partially right, it is also true that you can set up such settings within your DAW. Best practise is to set your buffers and latencies to the absolute lowest possible without clicks, distortion, or other audio impurities. True also is that audio latency has nothing to do with MIDI, mainly because MIDI has nothing to do with audio

Your L6 box has nothing to do with onboard instruments, such as a plug in synthesizer. The L6 only deals with external audio going into your DAW, in this case Cubase, unless of course you have the L6 set up as your computer's main soundcard (as in it has inputs and outputs and you are using both, completely bypassing your computer's sound).

xmlguy's last post has a lot of good points (so basically I'm just reiterating the points). As long as you set everything up right (audio routing, MIDI and audio latency, etc), you should be fine.

[Gentlemaneddie]

Thanks again..

Will give it another go:)