Playback delay...Why?!

[fil_mac]

Hello,
I've recently bougth a new PC for my professional recordings and i'm facing a new problem. I've notice that now i'm having a playback delay while recording. The readers in the voice boot were complaning that they were hearing eco of their voice in the headphones as they were reading and after check that i've realised that was due to a playback delay. I havent chage anything elese in the studio but the PC. So it can only be from the PC. I've decided to star by the Firewire Card. So i have chang the firewire card inbord for the older one i have in the other pc and that was working fine. It worked - but not completly. I still have a litle delay... ins't like before... but the delay is there and disturbes the readers...! What can i do? I'm sendind my Sandra report before the new Firewire card:
< Computer >
Model: HP HP Z600 Workstation
User: Filipe Machado
< Processor >
Model: 2x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5620 @
2.40GHz
Speed: 2.53GHz
Cores per Processor: 4 Unit(s)
Threads per Core: 1 Unit(s)
Type: Quad-Core
Integrated Data Cache: 4x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64
byte line size, 2 threads sharing
L2 On-board Cache: 4x 256kB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64
byte line size, 2 threads sharing
L3 On-board Cache: 12MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 16-way,
Exclusive, 64 byte line size, 8 threads
sharing
< Computer >
Mainboard: HP 0B54h
BIOS: HP 786G4 v03.15 10/29/2010
Bus(es): X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394
Multi-Processor (MP) Support: 2 Processor(s)
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (:Yes
NUMA Support: 2 Node(s)
Total Memory: 12GB ECC DIMM DDR3
< Chipset >
Model: HP 5520 (Tylersburg-36D) I/O Hub
Front Side Bus Speed: 2x 3GHz (5.85GHz)
< Chipset >
Model: HP Server (Gulftown) Uncore
Front Side Bus Speed: 2x 3GHz (5.85GHz)
Total Memory: 6GB ECC DIMM DDR3
Channels: 3
Memory Bus Speed: 2x 532MHz (1GHz)
< Chipset >
Model: HP Server (Gulftown) Uncore
Front Side Bus Speed: 2x 3GHz (5.85GHz)
Total Memory: 6GB ECC DIMM DDR3
Channels: 3
Memory Bus Speed: 2x 532MHz (1GHz)
< Memory Module(s) >
Memory Module: Freescale (Motorola) M391B5673FH0-CH9 2GB
DIMM DDR3 PC3-10600U DDR3-1332
Memory Module: Freescale (Motorola) M391B5673FH0-CH9 2GB
DIMM DDR3 PC3-10600U DDR3-1332
Memory Module: Freescale (Motorola) M391B5673FH0-CH9 2GB
DIMM DDR3 PC3-10600U DDR3-1332
Memory Module: Freescale (Motorola) M391B5673FH0-CH9 2GB
DIMM DDR3 PC3-10600U DDR3-1332
Memory Module: Freescale (Motorola) M391B5673FH0-CH9 2GB
DIMM DDR3 PC3-10600U DDR3-1332
Memory Module: Freescale (Motorola) M391B5673FH0-CH9 2GB
DIMM DDR3 PC3-10600U DDR3-1332
< Video System >
Video Adapter: ATI FirePro V5800 (800 SM5.0 690MHz, 1GB DDR5
4x1GHz, PCIe 2.00 x16)
Video Adapter: ATI FirePro V5800 (800 SM5.0 690MHz, 1GB DDR5
4x1GHz, PCIe 2.00 x16)
< Graphics Processor >
STREAM Processor: ATI FirePro V5800 (800SP 10C 690MHz, 1GB
4x1GHz)
Compute Shader Processor: ATI FirePro V5800 (800SP 690MHz, 1006.4MB
4x1GHz)
< Storage Devices >
Seagate ST3500418AS (500.1GB, :466GB (C:)
SAMSUNG HD103SJ (1TB, SATA300,:932GB (D:)
WD 5000AAV External 500.1GB (U:466GB (G:)
hp DVD-RAM GH60L (SATA150:N/A (E:)
< Logical Storage Devices >
SYSTEM: 2GB (NTFS)
Record (D:): 932GB (NTFS) @ SAMSUNG HD103SJ (1TB, SATA300,
3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 32MB Cache)
FM (G:): 466GB (FAT32) @ WD 5000AAV External 500.1GB
(USB)
OS (C:): 464GB (NTFS) @ Seagate ST3500418AS (500.1GB,
SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache)
Optical Drive (E:): N/A @ hp DVD-RAM GH60L (SATA150, DVD+-RW,
CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
< Peripherals >
LPC Hub Controller 1: HP LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1: SMSC SCH5317-B
Audio Device: HP HD Audio Controller
Audio Codec: Realtek Semiconductor 262 High Definition
Audio
Audio Device: HP EG JUNIPER XT Audio Device [Radeon HD 5700
Series]
Disk Controller: HP ICH8R (ICH8) SATA RAID Controller
USB Controller 1: HP USB UHCI Controller #4
USB Controller 2: HP USB UHCI Controller #5
USB Controller 3: HP USB UHCI Controller #6
USB Controller 4: HP USB EHCI Controller #2
USB Controller 5: HP USB UHCI Controller #1
USB Controller 6: HP USB UHCI Controller #2
USB Controller 7: HP USB UHCI Controller #3
USB Controller 8: HP USB EHCI Controller #1
FireWire/1394 Controller 1: 7003 FW643 PCI Express1394b Controller (PHY/
Link)
FireWire/1394 Controller 2: HP FW322/323 IEEE1394 OHCI FireWire
Controller
< Printers and Faxes >
Printer: Send To Microsoft OneNote 2010 Driver
(1200x1200, Colour)
Printer: PDFCreator (4000x4000, Colour)
Printer: Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600,
Colour)
Printer: KONICA MINOLTA C360SeriesPCL (600x600,
Colour)
< Network Services >
Network Adapter: Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet
< Power Management >
Mains (AC) Line Status: On-Line
< Operating System >
Windows System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 6.01.7601
(Service Pack 1)
Platform Compliance: x64
< Windows Experience Index >
Current System: 5.9

<< Wave Output Devices (Playback) >>
<< Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro 1/2 (2- D >>
< General Information >
Device Name: Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro 1/2 (2- D
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 6.01
Product ID: 100 / 1
< Specific Wave Information >
Maximum Standard Sampling Bits:16-bit
Maximum Standard Sampling Rate:96kHz
Channels: 2
< Device Capabilities >
Pitch Control: No
Playback Rate Control: No
Synchronous Operation: No
Sample Accurate Position Infor:Yes
Volume Control: Yes
Balance Control: Yes
<< Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro S/PDIF (2 >>
< General Information >
Device Name: Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro S/PDIF (2
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 6.01
Product ID: 100 / 1
< Specific Wave Information >
Maximum Standard Sampling Bits:16-bit
Maximum Standard Sampling Rate:96kHz
Channels: 2
< Device Capabilities >
Pitch Control: No
Playback Rate Control: No
Synchronous Operation: No
Sample Accurate Position Infor:Yes
Volume Control: Yes
Balance Control: Yes
<< Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro 3/4 (2- D >>
< General Information >
Device Name: Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro 3/4 (2- D
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 6.01
Product ID: 100 / 1
< Specific Wave Information >
Maximum Standard Sampling Bits:16-bit
Maximum Standard Sampling Rate:96kHz
Channels: 2
< Device Capabilities >
Pitch Control: No
Playback Rate Control: No
Synchronous Operation: No
Sample Accurate Position Infor:Yes
Volume Control: Yes
Balance Control: Yes
<< Speakers (Realtek High Definiti >>
< General Information >
Device Name: Speakers (Realtek High Definiti
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 6.01
Product ID: 100 / 1
< Specific Wave Information >
Maximum Standard Sampling Bits:16-bit
Maximum Standard Sampling Rate:96kHz
Channels: 2
< Device Capabilities >
Pitch Control: No
Playback Rate Control: No
Synchronous Operation: No
Sample Accurate Position Infor:Yes
Volume Control: Yes
Balance Control: Yes
<< Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro 5/6 (2- D >>
< General Information >
Device Name: Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro 5/6 (2- D
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 6.01
Product ID: 100 / 1
< Specific Wave Information >
Maximum Standard Sampling Bits:16-bit
Maximum Standard Sampling Rate:96kHz
Channels: 2
< Device Capabilities >
Pitch Control: No
Playback Rate Control: No
Synchronous Operation: No
Sample Accurate Position Infor:Yes
Volume Control: Yes
Balance Control: Yes
<< Microsoft Sound Mapper >>
< General Information >
Device Name: Microsoft Sound Mapper
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 5.00
Product ID: 2 / 1
< Specific Wave Information >
Maximum Standard Sampling Bits:16-bit
Maximum Standard Sampling Rate:96kHz
Channels: 2
< Device Capabilities >
Pitch Control: No
Playback Rate Control: No
Synchronous Operation: No
Sample Accurate Position Infor:No
Volume Control: Yes
Balance Control: Yes
<< MIDI Input Devices (Control) >>
<< 2- Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro MIDI >>
< General Information >
Device Name: 2- Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro MIDI
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 6.01
Product ID: 103 / 1
<< MIDI Output Devices (Playback) >>
<< Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth >>
< General Information >
Device Name: Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 1.00
Product ID: 27 / 1
< Specific Synthesizer Information >
Device Type: Special
Voices: 32
Notes: 32
Channels: 16
< Device Capabilities >
Patch Caching: No
Stream Support: No
Volume Control: Yes
Balance Control: No
< Performance Enhancing Tips >
Warning 710: Driver may be obsolete. Check that it is the
latest version.
Tip 2: Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip
is selected for more information about the
tip.
<< 2- Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro MIDI >>
< General Information >
Device Name: 2- Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro MIDI
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 6.01
Product ID: 102 / 1
< Specific Synthesizer Information >
Device Type: MIDI Port
Channels: 16
< Device Capabilities >
Patch Caching: No
Stream Support: No
Volume Control: No
<< Mixer Devices (Mixing) >>
<< Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro 1/2 (2- D >>
< General Information >
Device Name: Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro 1/2 (2- D
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 6.01
Product ID: 104 / 1
< Master Volume Line Information >
Type: Line-In
Channels: 1
Line is Active: Yes
Line is Disconnected: No
Source Line: No
<< Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro S/PDIF (2 >>
< General Information >
Device Name: Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro S/PDIF (2
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 6.01
Product ID: 104 / 1
< Master Volume Line Information >
Type: Line-In
Channels: 1
Line is Active: Yes
Line is Disconnected: No
Source Line: No
<< Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro 3/4 (2- D >>
< General Information >
Device Name: Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro 3/4 (2- D
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 6.01
Product ID: 104 / 1
< Master Volume Line Information >
Type: Line-In
Channels: 1
Line is Active: Yes
Line is Disconnected: No
Source Line: No
<< Speakers (Realtek High Definiti >>
< General Information >
Device Name: Speakers (Realtek High Definiti
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 6.01
Product ID: 104 / 1
< Master Volume Line Information >
Type: Speakers
Channels: 1
Line is Active: Yes
Line is Disconnected: No
Source Line: No
<< Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro 5/6 (2- D >>
< General Information >
Device Name: Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro 5/6 (2- D
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Version: 6.01
Product ID: 104 / 1
< Master Volume Line Information >
Type: Line-In
Channels: 1
Line is Active: Yes
Line is Disconnected: No
Source Line: No


Now my firewire cad is the SIIG Firewire 3Port PCI i/e

Please Help
Thank You!

[fil_mac]

By the way... if that makes a diference and helps i must say that i'm using protools 9.0.5 and windows 7 Professional 64bit.
Thanks for any help you can give.

[fil_mac]

If that somehow helps i must say that i'm using protools 9.0.5 and windows 7 Professional 64bit.
thanks for any hep you can possibly give.

[mano111]

The delay you are talking about is called Latency and is part of all DAWs.

To get rid of monitoring latency when recording in PTLE you can either

1. setup->Playback engine-> and set playback H/W buffer size to 64 (set it back to higher value when mixing)

or

2. Options-> Low Latency Monitoring

Alternately you can monitor using an external mixer.

[fil_mac]

thanks for your answer mano... but if i decrease the buffer size normaly i cant record well because i get a error message telling me i need to increase the buffer size... but i'll try..

About the external mixer..well i'm using the presonus monitor mixer... sorry my ignorance but is that what you are refering to?

Do you have any explanation for the fact that with my older PC i wasn't having this "Latency" problem?

Thanks for any help

[mano111]

To avoid latency I use a cheap external mixer. When recording I monitor (headphones and CR) the mixer's signal and mute the recorded tracks in PT. This way I have a signal that is analog only with no latency. I have the PT playback fed to the mixer as well so I can record in sync with my session. My mics are connected to fairly high quality pre amps with a split to both the mixer and to the 003 so that I don't record the signal from the mixer. Its only for monitoring.
Them when mixing I switch to monitor direct from PT 003 interface, so that the (low quality) mixer has no affect on my mixing either.


As for playback errors, this could be many things. I see you are recording on

Record (D:): 932GB (NTFS) @ SAMSUNG HD103SJ (1TB, SATA300,
3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 32MB Cache)

that is identical to mine, so its probably not a case of slow HDD.
Have you done any Windows 7 optimizations like suggested in some of the sticky threads ?

[fil_mac]

Ok... i see...
I must say that you are completly rigth. It is surely a latency problem. I didn't know what that is till now. Don't know why but only now i have this issue. But i did what you sugested (2nd option) and i've clicked the low latency option and as you said the delay is gone!!! :) I will record again this afternoon and see if it works fine, but so far it seems that is ok. I just have other doubt. Because i have no idea of what latency is... is there any disadvantage of recording and editing with low latency otpion on? Or if i record like this it's ging to be the same?

[mano111]

Use it when recording, and turn it off when editing/mixing.

[fil_mac]

Thank You. I will try to do that and see if it works.
You'r a great helper! Thanks a lot!

[albee1952]

Change the buffer to 128 or 64