Split - clearly! Also, just to help clarify it for me please - do you also read it that the Steinberg rep said this Cubase result was also expected - something about Cubase expecting the test to only be done with hardware going through the interface, so Cubase delayed the
original track by the buffer latency?
ALSO - for systems that have a problem getting the return from the external effects box (EEB) to line up with the original track (which could cause “phasiness” with parallel compression, e.g.) - the following is a suggestion from an SOS author some months back:
Meanwhile… it’s not a huge issue, unless working with parallel compression. The workaround there is to use a physical loopback on an audio interface channel (ie jack cable connecting your output to an input) on the uncompressed version. You could even set up an external instrument called ‘interface latency’ or some such. That way, you can send one half to the compressor, and one half through this physical loop, and both will experience the same latency and thus remain in time. People might worry about the artifacts of conversion, but that’s not going to be a significant issue with one pass like this. (The only downside, apart from the fiddling, is that you tie up physical I/O like this.)
I read it that soundcards report the latency figure to cubase, so when creating a “virtual” loopback within such a card then the actual time taken for the “loopback” is less than the reported latency hence a -ve value!
there is an explanation as to why he gets a negative delay values here which is posted earlier in case it got overlooked
actually just noticed that split has surmised it in his last post and the above link gives a little more info regarding the conflict between rme and cubase.
Swurveman - Thanks for that and OK, I understand the reference now.
Alexis - Really, once you accomplish the act - use the external efx option and the Steinberg ping checker/compensator - you will understand everything. The SOS guy seems a little misdirected? Afterall, you can copy and paste the original track at any time, no need to run it through anything. ?? What happens is the RECORDED track that was routed through the external efx is already lined up to the original project. There’s no dragging things around for phasing or anything else - Cubase does it perfectly. And yes, I have done this and what I say is correct, the recorded ext efx track imported back to the project, lines up perfectly with the original.
To me, as with the OP, it seems they are looking for a ‘live’ use of the ext efx. This would only work if I sent all 16 channels back to my mixer and mixed the project through my external mixer. It doesn’t work properly sending it back into the DAW live, nor do I think this is the intent. Again, the SOS guy and the OP seem to be looking at something else entirely. I think they have the concept of the Cubase external efx bus confused with something it is not. Like he said, you would be tying up all the ins and outs of your external device trying to do something that was never intended. He is approaching things as if you could do a live back into the DAW mix using the ext efx bus. This is not the the intention of the process.
Of course analog compressors and preamps will have effectively zero processing delay so the ping value will reflect this.
It’s different when using some digital devices as external FX then the ping will show the processing time (done with the FX in bypass)