chthonic

I am trying to use max/msp as an effects processor much like any off the shelf box (ie. Lexicon). For example, I patched the aux sends on my mixer through it and turned the dry sound down to 0. I played my guitar through the mixer. Even without effect processing (for example straight from dac~ to adc~) there was enough latency to make performance difficult. I am just using the jacks on the right side of my MacBook. Should there be this much latency? I do not know how to measure it precisely but I would say that there is much more than 6 ms of latency which I have read in other posts is the maximum many users will tolerate. Would a firewire soundcard such as the MOTU Ultralite or the PreSonus FirePOD cause less latency? I understand that processing using ffts will cause more latency; I think the problem is the AD/DA converter in the soundcard, maybe?

internal-soundcard-on-macbooks

i guess it depends on the types of effects you plan on using

but if you get a MOTU soundcard, they have a direct hardware

playthrough mode, so you can monitor yourself latency free

if your going to use delays/reverbs latency shouldnt really be an

issue as those effects are 'latency' based

have you messed with the I/O buffer size in DSP settings?

lowering it until you get breakup, then backing it back up a notch(ive

not done this in max yet, but its standard procedure in DAWs, (mix

with a bigger buffer/latency for more effects, track with a lower

> I am trying to use max/msp as an effects processor much like any off the shelf box (ie. Lexicon). For example, I patched the aux sends on my mixer through it and turned the dry sound down to 0. I played my guitar through the mixer. Even without effect processing (for example straight from dac~ to adc~) there was enough latency to make performance difficult. I am just using the jacks on the right side of my MacBook. Should there be this much latency? I do not know how to measure it precisely but I would say that there is much more than 6 ms of latency which I have read in other posts is the maximum many users will tolerate. Would a firewire soundcard such as the MOTU Ultralite or the PreSonus FirePOD cause less latency? I understand that processing using ffts will cause more latency; I think the problem is the AD/DA converter in the soundcard, maybe?

i guess it depends on the types of effects you plan on using
but if you get a MOTU soundcard, they have a direct hardware
playthrough mode, so you can monitor yourself latency free

if your going to use delays/reverbs latency shouldnt really be an
issue as those effects are 'latency' based

have you messed with the I/O buffer size in DSP settings?
lowering it until you get breakup, then backing it back up a notch(ive
not done this in max yet, but its standard procedure in DAWs, (mix
with a bigger buffer/latency for more effects, track with a lower
buffer/latency for tightness)

On 8/18/07, Nicholas Esterer  wrote:
>
> I am trying to use max/msp as an effects processor much like any off the shelf box (ie. Lexicon). For example, I patched the aux sends on my mixer through it and turned the dry sound down to 0. I played my guitar through the mixer. Even without effect processing (for example straight from dac~ to adc~) there was enough latency to make performance difficult. I am just using the jacks on the right side of my MacBook. Should there be this much latency? I do not know how to measure it precisely but I would say that there is much more than 6 ms of latency which I have read in other posts is the maximum many users will tolerate. Would a firewire soundcard such as the MOTU Ultralite or the PreSonus FirePOD cause less latency? I understand that processing using ffts will cause more latency; I think the problem is the AD/DA converter in the soundcard, maybe?
>


also, check out latency-test.pat in the utilities folder.

On Aug 17, 2007, at 6:10 PM, Rodrigo Constanzo wrote:

> i guess it depends on the types of effects you plan on using

> but if you get a MOTU soundcard, they have a direct hardware

> playthrough mode, so you can monitor yourself latency free

> if your going to use delays/reverbs latency shouldnt really be an

> issue as those effects are 'latency' based

> have you messed with the I/O buffer size in DSP settings?

> lowering it until you get breakup, then backing it back up a notch(ive

> not done this in max yet, but its standard procedure in DAWs, (mix

> with a bigger buffer/latency for more effects, track with a lower

>> I am trying to use max/msp as an effects processor much like any 

>> off the shelf box (ie. Lexicon). For example, I patched the aux 

>> sends on my mixer through it and turned the dry sound down to 0. I 

>> played my guitar through the mixer. Even without effect processing 

>> (for example straight from dac~ to adc~) there was enough latency 

>> to make performance difficult. I am just using the jacks on the 

>> right side of my MacBook. Should there be this much latency? I do 

>> not know how to measure it precisely but I would say that there is 

>> much more than 6 ms of latency which I have read in other posts is 

>> the maximum many users will tolerate. Would a firewire soundcard 

>> such as the MOTU Ultralite or the PreSonus FirePOD cause less 

>> latency? I understand that processing using ffts will cause more 

>> latency; I think the problem is the AD/DA converter in the 

> i guess it depends on the types of effects you plan on using
> but if you get a MOTU soundcard, they have a direct hardware
> playthrough mode, so you can monitor yourself latency free
>
> if your going to use delays/reverbs latency shouldnt really be an
> issue as those effects are 'latency' based
>
> have you messed with the I/O buffer size in DSP settings?
> lowering it until you get breakup, then backing it back up a notch(ive
> not done this in max yet, but its standard procedure in DAWs, (mix
> with a bigger buffer/latency for more effects, track with a lower
> buffer/latency for tightness)
>
> On 8/18/07, Nicholas Esterer  wrote:
>>
>> I am trying to use max/msp as an effects processor much like any  
>> off the shelf box (ie. Lexicon). For example, I patched the aux  
>> sends on my mixer through it and turned the dry sound down to 0. I  
>> played my guitar through the mixer. Even without effect processing  
>> (for example straight from dac~ to adc~) there was enough latency  
>> to make performance difficult. I am just using the jacks on the  
>> right side of my MacBook. Should there be this much latency? I do  
>> not know how to measure it precisely but I would say that there is  
>> much more than 6 ms of latency which I have read in other posts is  
>> the maximum many users will tolerate. Would a firewire soundcard  
>> such as the MOTU Ultralite or the PreSonus FirePOD cause less  
>> latency? I understand that processing using ffts will cause more  
>> latency; I think the problem is the AD/DA converter in the  
>> soundcard, maybe?
>>


I just wanted to point out that the Firepod also has a direct hardware monitoring option, though it's much less evolved than the MOTU stuff. On the Firepod, you can control the balance (via one knob) between how much of the input and how much of the output (from Max) you're hearing. The input monitoring never goes to the computer. The benefit of this is that it's very simple and no-hassle if it's all you need.

I just wanted to point out that the Firepod also has a direct hardware monitoring option, though it's much less evolved than the MOTU stuff.  On the Firepod, you can control the balance (via one knob) between how much of the input and how much of the output (from Max) you're hearing.  The input monitoring never goes to the computer.  The benefit of this is that it's very simple and no-hassle if it's all you need.


Internal Soundcard on MacBooks