Old 04-30-2017, 09:26 PM   #1
jimmyjazz
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Default Latency -- my nemesis

I'm not exactly a newbie but I haven't spent a whole lot of my life in audio on the computer. I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I have no doubt this question has been answered a thousand times, so if you can point me to the right part of a FAQ, that's fine too.

I use the computer like an analog deck. It is a rare project indeed that hits 24 tracks. I don't think I'm taxing my resources. That said, they are modest -- a small desktop computer and a Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 (until I get my RME Fireface fixed).

No matter what I do, the headphone send off the Focusrite is either delayed or sends both the "real time" signal and a delayed version to the headphones. I suspect this is related to either my input monitoring, my setup, or both, but I'll be damned if I can get to the bottom of it. When it's just me "singing", I can deal, but tonight I was trying to demo some songs for my daughter and she is just too damned talented to have to deal with my half-assed approach to tracking. Any hints?
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Old 04-30-2017, 10:10 PM   #2
Lokasenna
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Odds are extremely good that it's your buffer setting.

There should be a long string of text and numbers...

Windows: Top-right corner of the Reaper screen.
Mac: Just to the right of the menus... I think?

Copying that out here for us will probably be informative. In particular, the number of samples ("spls") is a common thing to tweak.

Clicking this area will open Reaper's audio device settings, and from there you can open your interface's control panel. Somewhere in there you should find an option to change the buffer size.

Smaller buffer size = less latency BUT higher CPU. 512 samples will be a noticeable lag, 256 will probably feel a little "off", 128 might be noticeable, and anything under that will probably feel like it's instantaneous. Set it as low as you can go without Reaper starting to crackle and stutter, though keep in mind that this setting might need to be increased as you start adding plugins and loading down your CPU.
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Old 05-01-2017, 12:38 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmyjazz View Post
No matter what I do, the headphone send off the Focusrite is either delayed or sends both the "real time" signal and a delayed version to the headphones. I suspect this is related to either my input monitoring, my setup, or both, but I'll be damned if I can get to the bottom of it. When it's just me "singing", I can deal, but tonight I was trying to demo some songs for my daughter and she is just too damned talented to have to deal with my half-assed approach to tracking. Any hints?
Sounds to me like you have the 'record monitor' button on in Rraper - the button on the track that looks like a side view of a speaker/driver. You want that set to off and 'direct monitoring' set on the 18/6 - probably in the Control software - sorry I'm new to the Focusrite software. so I can't point directly to where that might be.
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Old 05-01-2017, 09:13 AM   #4
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Thanks, I think that's got me headed in the right direction.

So if I turn off record monitoring can I still send reverb to the headphone mix? (Not at my computer right now.)
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Old 05-01-2017, 12:43 PM   #5
dimitris_T
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The way i do it is this:

turn the volume of the track(s) you recording at 0 so you can hear only the direct (real time) signal.
Then create a track with a reverb effect.
And send the tracks to this channel pre fader.
Having a little delay in the reverb track is normal, like predelay.

I hope i explained it well
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Old 05-02-2017, 08:04 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmyjazz View Post
Thanks, I think that's got me headed in the right direction.

So if I turn off record monitoring can I still send reverb to the headphone mix? (Not at my computer right now.)
You're welcome.
I'm afraid you'll only hear what is going into the interface, in terms of the recording track, however dimitris idea looks like a good way if you need to hear any reverb effect... I think if you keep the record monitor off, send to a reverb track and have the reverb output just wet signal, that might achieve exactly(ish) what you want for the purpose of recording. Then just rearrange/delete as required
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Last edited by somebodyelseuk; 05-02-2017 at 08:10 AM.
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Old 06-24-2018, 06:30 PM   #7
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Well, I thought I was getting somewhere on this but obviously something is messed up. Can anyone help me diagnose my issue?

-- I'm direct monitoring my input vocal signal (record monitoring OFF on vocal track)
-- I'm trying to send that signal pre-fader to a separate track with a ReaVerb inserted on the FX loop

I can't hear any reverb in my headphones while recording. Gah, this is so frustrating. There has to be a simple explanation. I don't care about latency so much right now as I do just getting some FX in the vocal chain while tracking. (I do NOT want to record those effects.)

Any thoughts?
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Old 06-25-2018, 02:49 AM   #8
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Turn record monitoring ON on vocal track and turn down the channel fader.

You will need to turn fader back up to hear the recording this way.

Another option is to set the input of FX track to the same as the vocal instead of using a send, but have record monitoring on only on the FX track.
In this case you'll be recording the reverb to the FX track at the same time as dry vocal track and can delete it after.
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Old 07-02-2018, 07:22 PM   #9
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I'm sorry, this is just not working. I'm doing something wrong. Can somebody point me to an ultra-clear FAQ or something similar where I can get a damn headphone feed that is (a) not delayed by a half second and (b) has some effect in it?

I fully accept the fact that this is my fault. Hence, this is why I'm posting on "newbieland". I have no problem getting a direct undelayed dry vocal sound in my headphones. What I CAN'T seem to do is get any semblance of realistic reverb on top of that. This is vital for my project, which admittedly is proceeding at a snail's pace, because of other commitments, but for pity's sake I must be doing SOMETHING wrong. I have never in my life had this much frustration using real hardware. Surely there is some means to get reverb in my fucking headphones that isn't delayed by a half second.
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Old 07-03-2018, 06:16 AM   #10
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Got the tip I needed on one of the main boards -- I didn't have Reaverb set up for zero (or low) latency. Things are much better. One little checkbox!
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