How do fast computers deal with latency of plug ins? Worth upgrading?

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 13/06/2014 06:54:54

I have a laptop that's a couple of years old to record on. Whenever I use plug in effects, there's a quarter-second delay between a note being played on my guitar and the sound coming through my headphones. This only happens with effects, so I assume it's my computer.

I'm thinking about building a full size desktop for recording. Is it possible that a much faster computer will have no noticeable delay? Or is delay just something I'll have to get used to? (I find it uninspiring to add effects after since I make deep psychedelia and need to hear how it sounds realtime)

If you are not running a soundcard with ASIO then go here:

http://www.asio4all.com

Or you could invest in a soundcard. That much latency is too much.

What are the specs on your laptop? "A couple years old" to me would imply either a last-gen dual core or quad, either of which should be able to give you decent latency numbers.

I'm with hibidy - get an Audiobox, run ASIO, and you should be good.

And a thought - how "clean" is the system? How much crap running in the background, when's the last time you defragged, are you online and anti-virus running - the basic stuff. It makes a difference, and tends to sneak up on you.....

Desktop - well sure, up to a point faster means lower possible latency., we may be close to that point now, I know I run at 64 samples for tracking and time-critical stuff, latency in the 5ms range - that's the equivalent of a .... 5 foot?... distance from the sound source. I'm 15 - 20 feet away from my amps when I play live. That's with an i5 quad @ 3.4g, a solid-but-modest little workhorse. And priced accordingly....

I'd venture to guess you could build a solid performer in the $800 - $1200 range, a system that would well meet your needs.....

yep. clean up your current system and pick up a decent little soundcard. good place to start.

As everyone else has said - you likely need an audio interface and some ASIO drivers. If you are just using the audio built into the laptop then you can try ASIO4ALL drivers and that will help - but you really should have a dedicated audio interface for best results.

Thanks guys. I'm currently using an AudioBox, and run headphones directly from it. The latency only ever occurs when I use effects within Studio One like delay, reverb, phaser etc. Wouldn't this mean it's the computer that's having issues processing the sound quickly? How might an ASIO driver help with this?

From what you are saying, you may just be using too large of a buffer. It will come down to whether the PC can handle it, but before you go out and upgrade, go ahead and reduce the buffer size and see if the current system can handle it.

I used to run 11ms latency with a pentium1 166mHz and a sound blaster live pci card.

Depends on how much processing you're trying to do.

A clean functioning computer, (so computer isn't surfing the net for updates while you're trying to work etc.) is a good start.

I think a sound card is mandatory if you're trying to track with it, then setup it up property.

The closer you get to real time, the harder the computer has to work so you have to find a trade off between your needs and the machines.