USB Mixer Latency...
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Posted on Sep 30, 2006 12:13 pm
MisterMudd
Member Since: Sep 30, 2006
Hi there!
This is my first post here, so bear with me.
I recently built my home recording computer (yes it is dedicated)and I have run into a bit of an issue.
The mixer I chose to purchase is an Alesis MultiMix 16USB. The problem is only apparent when I am recording (I use Cubase LE).
I generated some drum tracks in a sampling program, and rendered them to *.wav. Then I dropped the *.wav into a track in Cubase LE. I wanted to record some guitar to a new track while listening to the drum track. When I tried this, I was able to monitor both the drum track and the guitar through the headphones. The guitar was coming through the headphones as I was playing it, without any latency. However, when I played back what I had just recorded, there was a significant sense of delay between the two tracks. Re-aligning the tracks to match up was ridiculously difficult.
I was wondering what I can to monitor previously recorded tracks, while recording additional tracks without the apparent problem of latency.
-Thanks in advance
-Matthew Wadsworth
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Sep 30, 2006 06:15 pm You will need to go into the Alesis mixers control panel and adjust the latency buffer down to say 128. As well I have never used the XP Media Center version of Windows so I cant say if that is contributing to it or not. But I would imagine it has a lot of processes running in the background. This will contribute to RAM and CPU overhead being taken away from Cubase. So I suggest checking that and shutting down any unecessary processes.
Next step will be to go into Cubase and make sure you have the ASIO drivers selected and not MME. MME is an emulated driver that is selected by default in Windows. The WDM driver will work well also if you cant get ASIO working. But ASIO will be the best choice. Next make sure the latency bufer in Cubase is also set to about 128. This will help immensly to reduce the latency you are experiancing. When I run a Line 6 TonePort UX2 via USB I run ASIO and my latency is down around 2.3ms so you should be able to at least get close to that. I dont know how good the Alesis drivers are but I would expect better then a noticable delay.
And re-aligning tracks shouldn't be that difficult. I do it in Sonar frequantly with imported projects and it isnt to tough at all. I would make sure you have the [bb]snap[/b] function turned off and simply use the bump feature to bump the tracks a few milleseconds at a time.
And welcome to HRC by the way.
Noize
Sep 30, 2006 11:01 pm Ya know, it's funny.
I am (and have been) using the ASIO Full Duplex Direct X Driver which came with Steinberg Cubase LE. This driver will not let me set the buffer anywhere below 512. I use FL Studio for my drum parts, and midi stuff, so I thought I would try to record in FL Studio, but I still got latency. I then got a demo of Adobe Audition 2.0 and I was able to do exactly what I wanted (monitor/record simultaniously)with no noticeable latency with the DirectX ASIO driver that came with Cubase LE, even with the buffer set to 512.
So it appears the problem is in the amount of resources Cubase uses (even version LE).
Sep 30, 2006 11:05 pm It is just too bad I have to keep Cubase LE installed to use the DirectX ASIO. :-/
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Sep 30, 2006 11:20 pm Well herre is the skinny on what you are saying.
DirectX has absolutely nothing to do with ASIO drivers at all, nothing. DirectX is a pluggin format used by some DAW makers which is basicly the same theng as VST. It has absolutely nothing to do with the drivers that run your audio interface, they are pluggins for effects and software synths and that is it.
Second, Cubase does not come with its own ASIO drivers, the audio interface does. If Cubase wont let you set the latency buffer below 512 then you need to go into the audio interface control panel and set it to 126, then return to Cubase and set it there as well. If indeed Cubase LE wont let you set it below 512 then something is drasticly wrong in your set up. I would suggest uninstalling Cubase and the interface and re-installing from scratch. That is unheard of to limit the buffer to no lower then 512.
Oct 01, 2006 12:03 am Cubase LE does in fact come with these drivers. The mixer itself has no driver to install, it uses the windows "USB Audio Codec".
Using the ASIO control panel, you manulally input the number in your sample buffer (instead of moving a slider), and when I put any number between 0 and 511, it automatically inputs the number 512.
When I uninstalled Cubase LE (Which is the OEM Version I got with my mixer), the ASIO driver which was titled "ASIO DirectX Full Duplex Driver" was uninstalled as well. Perhaps since it is OEM, it contains the ASIO.
I tried using the ASIO4ALL driver, and it gave me quite a bit of latency, or just terrible quality.
I managed to reinstall Cubase, then uninstall Cubase with the "Advanced" option, and I deselected anything in the C:\Program Files\Steinberg\ASIO directory, and I was able to keep the driver.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Oct 01, 2006 01:17 pm I suppose they just supply one disc and it must contian both the driver and program installs. That is odd that it would be called as DirectX though as that is not a driver standard but a pluggin in standard.
I would guess that they are limiting the buffer setting somehow then. Is there a direct control panel for the Alesis mixer/interface you can get to? That would be the place to start. I might assume it is the ASIO control panel that is used for that purpose, but you should have a software control panel for the mixer itself as well that should contain the buffer settings as well as the sample rate and other misc. settings.
The ASIO4All driver actually needs a WDM driver installed to work as it is an emulater that works alongside the actual WDM driver.
Oct 01, 2006 01:24 pm Nope, I checked all over the place and there is not a control panel for the mixer itself. It does show up in the Control Panel - Sounds & Audio devices, but there is nothing more there than the standard windows settings.
The only option for me to adjust anything related to the mixer is in the ASIO settings panel.
I emailed Alesis about this, and after playing with Adobe Audition, I think I like it better, so I may in fact go ahead and purchase it. Unless, of course, Alesis has a firmware/software update that might help me.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Oct 01, 2006 01:35 pm Oh indeed go to the Alesis support page and check for driver/firmware updates. You can download them freely as an owner.
Oct 01, 2006 02:37 pm Wow, I went to the Alesis support page, and they only have the drivers for the firewire mixers.
The firewire mixers have a control panel though. Too bad they don't work with the USB mixers.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Oct 01, 2006 03:57 pm Now that is just plain absurd. All my USB devices have drivers and do not rely on a Windows generic driver to work. I cant believe how cheap some of these companies have gotten when it comes to supporting their devices.
I guess I would wait to see what the customer support has to say about your situation then. That or return it for something that actually works proper.
Oct 01, 2006 04:33 pm My sentiments exactly.
