Track misalignment during Overdub

First of all, please note that I am talking about TRACK MISALIGNMENT, not LATENCY. These are two different but interrelated issues--the practical application of which is critical in having tracks that are perfectly aligned on one hand, vs dealing with perceived LATENCY during tracking.

Okay, I did the test myself. I created lots of tracks with lots of plugins in order to load the system down completely. Then I backed off on a few plugins. No matter what load I put the CPU and CORE AUDO under, the track misalignment stayed exactly the same. This is GREAT NEWS to me because once I determined my track misalignment I simply entered it in Preferences under Recording Delay and all new tracks are perfectly aligned to the sample.

Furthermore, the way I determined my track misalignmentl also takes into account any outboard gear delay if I really care to get specific to the sample. This is almost always a moot point, but not always.

I have read all that I could on these forums about how to measure TRACK MISALINGMENT and LATENCY so here is the approach I used to quickly calculated my TRACK MISALIGNMENT to the sample--

TK 1 = any mono audio track sent to Output 1
Output 1 routed to DA 1 > thru analog audio pathway > to AD 2 via patch bay
Input 2 = AD 2 on my system
TK N = new mono track armed and ready to record. Input 2 (make sure that TK N is not being monitored on Output 1 or a feedback loop will be created.)
Record a few seconds
SOLO TK 1 and TK N to hear the misalignment
On TK 1 -- insert these plugins Help > /gain and reverse phase, and Delay Samples plug in.
DELAY SAMPLES PLUGIN-- click the box that has the sample off and scroll the mouse up or down to quickly change the number by samples. The magic number is where the sound almost disappears. This number is the sample off set between the the origional track and the new track.

Please note that as one increases CPU or CORE AUDIO load the perceived LATENCY of a new track, as monitored from Logic Output will increase but not the misalignment. The issue of whether or not the musician perceiving LATENCY when tracking has an effect on timing is a discussion had many times elsewhere and not the issue here. My personal approach to monitoring tracking is to mult a signal from my preamp directly to monitor; thus, there is absolutely no perceived LATENCY-- zero, none, never.

I did wonder about that. In the analog relm if I split a signal and reverse the phase of one of the signals it totally cancels-- dead silence. I had presumed that perfect 180 degrees was inbetween samples!!!! Another explain would have been that there is something added or something taken away from the second recording. Now I want it to be perfect.

Just a fine point (because machine must work!!! LOL)
if everything's being clocked correctly you should be
able to achieve absolute cancellation and not just
"almost" cancellation.

Cheers!

I discovered that the two volumes were not exactly the same. I was able to get 98% cancelation. I suspect that perfect 180 degrees is inbetween samples. I also wonder if simply passing through a converter can add or take away something very miniscule!