How to lower latency?. thnks.
Hi and welcome to the forum!
There are a number of things you can do, start with:
- slowly decrease the buffer size of your audiointerface until you hear dropouts > Studio/Studio Setup / Audiosystem > Buffer Size.
- render tracks with a lot of latency-heavy plugins (to see which channels are affected check the channel latencies)
- temporarily engage Constrain Delay Compensation to disable latency-heavy plugins or to force them to go into a latency optimized mode > little icon in the bottom left corner of your project window
It would also help if you posted some details like pc or Mac? Computer spec? Audio interface?
You can buy a pre-loved Mac Mini M4, a similarly-cherished Motu M4 soundcard, a new 1.5m Supra standard USB-C cable, and a full Cubase 14 Pro - for around $1000. At 128 samples in 24bit/96Khz, the machine works very comfortably at 2ms in, 2ms out. Another $200 gets you an OWC 1M2 TB4 enclosure and a 1TB Samsung 990 Evo Plus, which will be faster than the Mini’s internal drive, possibly even double the speed. Keeping all your current Audio on this drive is recommended, and all Song-saves, together with all Plug-in libraries and samples.
You would need a powered dock for any USB2 stuff. A used Razer Chroma TB4 Hub is a good, solid unit with plenty of power. It also has one USB3 socket - which runs my old 970 Evo plus SSD at 400MB/sec. Perfect for Time Machine. The OWC/990 is faster running straight from the Mini’s Thunderbolt though, so there are better, faster (and cheaper) docks out there, and simpler solutions too.
(I wouldn’t want to have a bus-powered Motu M4, an SSD enclosure, an M4 enclosure, 30ft HDMI-cable, and a 30ft USB2 mouse/keyboard cable - all running from the M4 Mini’s 155 watt power-supply. So a powered dock is really essential in my view. Plugging everything into the dock, loses you maybe 5% of your M2 speed with the Razer Chroma, but worth it to run your Mini cooler by a couple of degrees).
Here’s some generic tips for latency-chasers…
Always plug your external soundcard directly to your computer’s USB-C outlet. Use a good quality 90-ohms USB2-Audio cable like a $40 Supra, and ensure it is between 1 and 2 metres, and uses no adaptors.
Make sure you are using your Soundcard’s latest firmware and drivers, and confirm compatibility with your OS, and DAW. Forums can be helpful for links and info.
Have a simple, bare-bones, dedicated machine for music. A clean install of Sequoia, no iCloud, no Migration, no initial Time Machine. Use the wi-fi purely for updates, downloads, and software-verification only. Do a Time Machine save once fully-configured.
It should be fun and rewarding. A big, and necessary part of that adventure is low latency-times, and accurate, smooth performance. For Cubase 14 Pro - a 2024 Mac M4, with Sequoia, and a still respectable Motu M4, will give you that. Struggling with older Intels, it’s not going to happen.
Read all you can, and watch tutorials. We can all learn something. Streamline that knowledge into your art, and keep on straight ahead.