Logic Pro X - delay compensation limitations?
Hi all! I am trying to move from Pro Tools HD to Logic for some mixing (big leap, I know - long story there), and am finding the delay compensation documentation to be pretty lax, and the actual compensation's effectiveness to be foggy at best. Despite having Delay Compensation set to All, and toggling that setting off/on a number of times with no difference, I am experiencing audible delays in my mix with plugins that are heavy in latency. I am worried that plugins with low latency are also introducing phase and cancellation/summing issues in the mix that I'm fighting without knowing it.
My question is, is there community confidence that delay compensation is working properly within Logic Pro X as described (calculates total delay from plug-ins and offsets each channel, per Delay Compensation setting, so that all tracks play back in sync)? If so, is there a limitation to how much delay it will offset? For example, I have one plug-in that is currently introducing 33ms of delay, and putting that as an insert on a track instantly whacks that track out of place with the rest of the mix. Same deal on a bus, and only on the master can I insert it without negative impact as it's delaying the entire stereo mix uniformly.
Tests I've run (and feel free to challenge my methodology or suggest alternate ways to proof this, I'm very open to learning opportunities here) -
- Delay-inducing plugins on channel insert, bus insert, master insert - bounced each variation to confirm the audible delay was passed to the output file (it was)
- New project, imported identical audio file to two tracks, phase inverted one track, confirmed silent playback (full cancellation). Added a delay-inducing plugin to one track and confirmed I was able to hear part of the waveform on playback (indicating delay disrupting the 100% phase cancellation).
- Same test as #2 except using a very low delay inducing plugin (1.6ms - Soundtoys Decapitator with the mix set to 100% dry) and heard silence. Exporting the file to iZotope RX showed some spectral data but I can't tell if that's a plugin delay issue so I'm not correlating it at this point.
- Same test as #2 except using a very long delay-inducing plugin (there's a build of AFX2DAW that induces 330ms of delay). Observed that the track initially was about 1/3 second delayed upon applying the plugin, but Logic did recalculate and then only some of the file was audible indicating improved but not 100% compensation.
System:
MacBook Pro M1 16GB on 11.6 Big Sur (holding on updating to Monterey)
Logic Pro 10.6.3 (holding on updating to 10.7)
Antelope Zen Go (the source of a lot of this frustration as the AFX2DAW bridge plugin adds a minimum 33ms delay, but the plugins sound pretty darn good)
Thanks in advance!
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.6