I’m think to buy a UR22mkII for playing piano.
I’m using Painoteq which is a virtual piano software, and I’m connecting a digital piano\piano controller to a computer.
I want to know what performance I could get from Pianoteq while using the UR22mkII.
Given the fact that my CPU and my RAM capacity is by far good enough, What is the minimum latency I should get with 96kHz\24bit settngs? and with 196kHz\24bit?
Unfortunately I have no option to check this before I’m deciding to purchase.
It’s impossible to give an exact number but generally speaking you should be able to get less than 10ms latency so you should be fine. I’m a trained pianist and with my UR44 I have around 9ms which I find more than okay,
By the info you’ve provided I think you should be more worried about DPC latency rather than roundtrip latency.
Just in case you’re not familiair with DPC latency you can download a (windows) freeware tool here: http://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml
DPC latency is cracks, pops and dropouts caused by IRQ conflicts, internal processes or PC components (wifi adapters are notoriously know for this so that would be the fist device to turn off when looking for a culprit). I have a dedicated DAW PC and while I chose all components I had the machine build by a professional DAW builder since there is no way to tell if certain combinations of components are gonna cause issues (that’s why you can only choose from a limited range of PC’s when buying a dedicated DAW PC from a specialized shop as those setups have been tested).
Since I didn’t want to be bothered by having to troubleshoot each and every component and/or OS setting I happily paid the DAW builder to “buy off” that risk (it’s easier for him to try another wifi adapter for eg. from his stock in case my configuration had DPC latency).
Now probably you’ll be fine. If you have Apple (with core audio) you’re probably set and even with Windows it’s not apparent you should run into trouble. Still, it might be worth considering adjusting some system settings like your CPU set to “background services” (also roundtrip latency could benefit from this particular one). Just google for optimal OS settings for your specific OS in case you run into troubles.
But all in all it’s highly unlikely your roundtrip latency is going to be more than 10ms. I play jazz so timing is essential and I am fine with 9ms. Some audiophiles do need 5-6 ms (especially when working in a DAW) but in that case you’re looking at interfaces like RME with a doubled pricetag. As for 24/192… There really is no reason at all to play/record/mix with these settings (24/96 already is more than CD quality) but your roundtrip latency will probably drop when going up and beyond so if it’s important to you, you should try.
Have fun!