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Level 1

10 points

Best audio interface for low latency?

After many days of tweaking my PreSonus Firebox and buffer settings in MS2, I've reluctantly had to accept that the latency is just too much for me to work with. I've seen and read stories of people using MS2 live (especially that video about Nine Inch Nails using it for everything) but clearly, they're not getting this same amount of latency. I've changed buffer settings from 64 all the way to 1024, but nothing seems to help. The strange part is that I can't really hear the latency change not matter what buffer setting I use.

Does anyone have a success story? Are there other audio interfaces that have less latency? I know the latency is largely coming from the computer, but I wonder if different hardware would help.

Thanks in advance!

Mark

Macbook Pro (Snow Leopard), Mac OS X (10.6.4), BFD2, Metasynth, Rebirth, Peak... the usual suspects.

Posted on Sep 24, 2010 2:34 PM

Best reply

Maddcow

Level 1

25 points

Posted on Sep 24, 2010 8:16 PM

I use a MOTU Ultralite Mk 3 (not the new hybrid model) with a buffer of 64....my MBP details are in my sig. I perform live with this and whilst I have to choose my synths and other plugins carefully, I haven't had any real issues with this setup when using it live. I've definitely had some problems at times with my entire setup, but these weren't latency/audio interface problems. My total latency is between 7-8ms and I can't notice this at all....and I'm using in-ear monitors so I'd definitely notice if the latency was a problem.

My recommendations are:
1) Get the best-quality audio interface you can afford. The MOTU Ultralite and RME Fireface interfaces are outstanding, and the Apogee interfaces are arguably the best on the market. But for value-for-money and features galore, I don't think you can beat the MOTU Ultralite. It has onboard DSP processing that can take some of the burden off your CPU, and it has a remarkable number of I/O options for a 1/2 rack sized unit.

2) Use the fastest machine you can afford and put the maximum RAM in it. RAM makes a huge difference to MS performance.

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20 replies

spheric

Level 3

699 points

Oct 11, 2010 2:17 AM in response to rounik music

Note that the one weak spot of the 2882 is that the mic pre's only have a useful range of about +60dB before they get noisy.

I have it hooked up to an 8-bus mixer, so this is not an issue here, but it can be problematic with certain specific mic models hooked up directly.

You can always add an extra 8 channels of mic-pres via ADAT, of course - or look into the ULN-8, which is somewhat pricier, though.

Oct 11, 2010 4:53 AM in response to spheric

spheric wrote:
Note that the one weak spot of the 2882 is that the mic pre's only have a useful range of about +60dB before they get noisy.

Very useful to know! We'll be using it for live use and we'll look into getting a mixer setup if needed.

What mics do you find it problematic with?

You can always add an extra 8 channels of mic-pres via ADAT, of course - or look into the ULN-8, which is somewhat pricier, though.

I think the ULN-8 might be just outside their budget at the moment...

Oct 11, 2010 9:27 AM in response to rounik music

Can you just a Metric Halo 2D +DSP (without MainStage) for basic mixing with some DSP (reverb, delay, guitar processing), and control it via MIDI (rotary volume and guitar fx footswitches), using a MacBook for visual interface? If so, at what point would you also need to add MainStage (for example, for software instruments, "deeper" delay algorithms?)

spheric

Level 3

699 points

Oct 11, 2010 11:07 PM in response to rounik music

rounik music wrote:

spheric wrote:
Note that the one weak spot of the 2882 is that the mic pre's only have a useful range of about +60dB before they get noisy.

Very useful to know! We'll be using it for live use and we'll look into getting a mixer setup if needed.

What mics do you find it problematic with?

I haven't had any problems, but I rarely work with mics at all - it's mostly line levels, here.

IIRC, there's some ribbon mics that put out rather low levels. If you'll be working live in a rock environment, there shouldn't be any considerations.

Check out the MIO mailing list archives at mhlabs.com - they're quite lively, and BJ and the MH support guys are active participants.

spheric

Level 3

699 points

Oct 12, 2010 1:44 AM in response to dingdangdawg

dingdangdawg wrote:
Can you just a Metric Halo 2D +DSP (without MainStage) for basic mixing with some DSP (reverb, delay, guitar processing), and control it via MIDI (rotary volume and guitar fx footswitches), using a MacBook for visual interface? If so, at what point would you also need to add MainStage (for example, for software instruments, "deeper" delay algorithms?)

I don't actually use the MIO for live performance, but check out this site:
http://www.miozone.org/2009/10/examples-of-how-i-use-metric-halo-mio-2d-dsp-guit ar-processing/#more-30

Geert uses his box for live guitar processing in tandem with Bidule on his Mac.

The MIO Console software is remote controllable via Mackie HUI and others.

Message was edited by: spheric

Best audio interface for low latency?