Latency / Computer Spec
I play an EWI 5000 and recently purchased and downloaded the SWAM ‘Clarinets’ and ‘Saxophones’ and soon got them up and running.
I have just one problem : to get rid of unwanted latency, I have to set the I/O buffer at 64 samples and this seems to be maybe too demanding for the CPU (the activity monitor shows that when I’m playing, I’m using 70% or so of the CPU). I get occasional pops and hiccups – and the computer gets very, very hot. I’m using an Apple iMac (mid-2011) with a 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 processor and 8 GB of memory; and I’m using Apple’s Mainstage as the host. According to the Samplemodeling user guide, what I have should be enough to do the job. They suggest setting the I/O buffer at 256 or even 512 samples – both of which in my case produce far too much latency eg at 256 samples, the latency is 28.6 ms Round Trip / 36.9 ms Output – which by adjusting the ‘less latency’ slider can be brought down to 22.8 ms Round Trip and 13.7 ms Output.
Does anyone have the same spec computer as I have, and if so, what kind of latency do you have?
And if you’re a player with a different computer spec who’s happy with the results you’re getting, what computer spec do you have – and what I/O buffer settings do you use? – and what latency are you getting?
Kenneth Knight
I have just one problem : to get rid of unwanted latency, I have to set the I/O buffer at 64 samples and this seems to be maybe too demanding for the CPU (the activity monitor shows that when I’m playing, I’m using 70% or so of the CPU). I get occasional pops and hiccups – and the computer gets very, very hot. I’m using an Apple iMac (mid-2011) with a 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 processor and 8 GB of memory; and I’m using Apple’s Mainstage as the host. According to the Samplemodeling user guide, what I have should be enough to do the job. They suggest setting the I/O buffer at 256 or even 512 samples – both of which in my case produce far too much latency eg at 256 samples, the latency is 28.6 ms Round Trip / 36.9 ms Output – which by adjusting the ‘less latency’ slider can be brought down to 22.8 ms Round Trip and 13.7 ms Output.
Does anyone have the same spec computer as I have, and if so, what kind of latency do you have?
And if you’re a player with a different computer spec who’s happy with the results you’re getting, what computer spec do you have – and what I/O buffer settings do you use? – and what latency are you getting?
Kenneth Knight
Comments
I don't know Mainstage, try another VSTi host. Minihost Modular is free. And try ASIO4All if it is possible for Mac.