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Re: Laptops -dedicated to music only?
On 28 jun 2007, at 12.07, andy butler wrote:
> afaik best possible for Windows is 3mS from in to out.
> (+ AD/DA times)
> ( though I don't know if anyone achieves that figure in harsh reality)
Generally you should be able to achieve lower buffer settings with
good ASIO drivers on a Windows system compared to OS X, if both
systems run on equal hardware. That's because OS X keeps some sort
of safety margin.
The next question would be why you need 6 ms rather than 12 ms? I
honestly can't tell. When touring as a guitarist (with no laptop) I
sometimes had to stand on stage five meters away from my amp/speaker
and I never had a problem with that latency. Latency tends to be a
problem for bedroom musicians that are used to headphone monitoring,
but it's really not a problem for those who have any experience in
playing live. You can easily learn to compensate for latency by how
you're playing your instrument, as the hornists in a symphonic
orchestra often do; when they play with horns targeting the ceiling
behind the stage they have to play a little earlier than the other
instruments (like for example trumpets and trombones that target the
audience spot on) in order to let the audience perceive the notes
musically in time.
Latency could be a problem though, for acoustic instruments where you
hear both the direct sound and the delayed sound, going through the
hardware. The perceived sound would then be afflicted with phasing
errors.
Finally, all DAWs and the looping software Mobius (Windows XP) do
proper compensation for any latency induced by the hardware. Every
recording is shifted in time on playback to line up correctly in
time. So there can only be a problem when you use the hardware to
recalculate your direct input sound and it's not worse than using an
amp/speaker compared to using head phones.
Finally, finally, we have the scenario when the hardware is not
working correctly because the user have not adjusted the software
properly. Like for example if you should try to use MME drivers
instead of ASIO on in Windows etc. Maybe a lot of the reported
latency issues fall into the category?
Greetings from Sweden
Per Boysen
www.boysen.se (Swedish)
www.looproom.com (international)