8 reducing monitoring latency, Overview, Reducing monitoring latency – MOTU 828x 28x30 Audio Interface with ThunderTechnology User Manual
Page 63: Chapter
CHAPTER
63
8
Reducing Monitoring Latency
OVERVIEW
Monitoring latency
is that slight delay you hear
when you run an input signal through your host
audio software. For example, you might hear it
when you drive a live guitar input signal through
an amp modeling plug-in running in your audio
sequencer.
This delay is caused by the amount of time it takes
for audio to make the entire round trip through
your computer, from when it first enters an 828x
input, passes through the 828x hardware into the
computer, through your host audio software, and
then back out to an 828x output.
If you don’t need to process a live input with
plug-ins, the easiest way to avoid monitoring
latency is to use the 828x’s CueMix FX digital
mixer to patch the input directly to your monitor
outs via the 828x audio hardware. The 828x even
provides effects processing (EQ, compression and
reverb), which can be applied on input, output, or
even at the bussing stage, just like a conventional
mixer. For details, see “CueMix FX hardware
monitoring” on page 67.
If you
do
need to process a live input with host
software plug-ins, or if you are playing virtual
instruments live through your 828x audio
hardware, you can significantly reduce latency —
and even make it completely inaudible, regardless
of what host audio application software you use.
This chapter explains how.
It is important to note that monitoring delay has no
effect on when audio data is recorded to disk or
played back from disk. Actual recording and
playback is extremely precise.
Monitoring live input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Adjusting the audio I/O buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Lower latency versus higher CPU overhead . . . . . . . . . . 66
Transport responsiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Effects processing and automated mixing . . . . . . . . . . . 67
CueMix FX hardware monitoring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Two methods for controlling CueMix FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Using the CueMix FX app. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67