Zero latency

[Tyderian]

Hey all,

I have a question about zero latency montering via the blend knob (mbox style) and routing software (Saffire mix control).

If I'm recording at 48k with a HW buffer of 256, I'll have a delay of X milliseconds. As soon as I click play or record I'm hearing X delay. So when I send the headphone mix the artist he is gonna get X delay no matter what.

If the idea that by using the zero latency they're hearing themselves right away, aren't they already playing against x delay any way? Making the timing off by X.

Or is it that by not having zero latency the artist is hearing a 2 X delay?

I know that at 256 the delay isn't too bad and I've never had real issues but its more of a principal question.

Thanks

[nst7]

There will be a slight delay before the music starts, but he won't sing until he hears the music, so he'll still be in sync.

This is the same way it will work with the dynamic buffer in PT11. You may want to read that thread.

[Tyderian]

So that means with zero latency monitoring software or blend knob I can track at whatever HW buffer size I want?

[janmuths]

Latency occurs when monitoring through the track you're recording on. The hard drive can either write or read at any given time. It writes at the correct time and plays back delayed. The latency amount is set by the HW buffer size.

'Zero latency' routes the analog input directly into the analog output. In this case cut the track you're recording onto to avoid monitoring the signal twice.

Monitoring to tape will allow to overcome latency problems, however professional workflow is to monitor from tape on a system that has very low latency.
With to tape monitoring you may miss recording mistakes (clipping, forgetting to re-enable...) until its too late.
Punch-in recording with auto input monitoring and pre-roll time doesn't work with to-tape monitoring either.

Hope this helps.