Logic Pro 9 Midi Latency

rosco

New Member
Hi
Need help with disastrous midi latency on LP9 thru Mbox Pro on a Mac Pro with 14gb ram.
Only using midi keyboard to play my VSTi pianos/organs etc.
There is no audio latency when recording vox/instruments sources etc so don't understand why midi should be unusably slow?
Help appreciated!
 
This is usually caused by adding an instrument that has something like the liner phase EQ or multipressor on it as an insert. These plug-ins add latency to the audio engine, usually much more than any other plug-ins.

Check your master outputs, or anywhere where you used one of Apples presets, like an instrument you added.

That would be my first thing to look at.
 
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I recently went through this....without getting into my"plugin delay compensation" misunderstanding (I now leave this set to "all") Then use the "low latency mode button" for recording midi (there is a preference to set the maximum latency)

Note- I have linear eq. and busses running like mad and the low latency mode just works....took me along time to learn this

For audio I always use direct monitoring....half the fun is figuring out a workflow that works for you:thmbup:sarcasim
 
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Actually, audio can and does have latency but the automatic delay compensation deals with it as long as you have the correct settings. If you turn them to "OFF" and add a single instance of "Linear Phase EQ" to a track or a bus, you are screwed.
 
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check out the link, all the way through. When you are talking about audio latency, with or without a plugin, that is one thing. Midi latency caused by the nature of the midi signal is another. It is worth understanding either way. George you seem to know quite a bit about this, so I would be interested in your opinion, if you do have a chance to check it out.
 
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"Midi Latency" is very small, no more than a few milliseconds, and in the old days, when we used synths, there was about 20 MS "slop". -We used big Midi interfaces like the Opcode Studio 5- 16 times 16 midi channels. That helped allot. Emagic had their own high speed interface to deal with "midi" slop. But really, it's really not worth considering in my opinion.

Midi latency is inconsequential compared to audio latency (the time it takes audio to go through the "audio to digital and back to audio" conversions that happen when we use a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). This is determined by our audio buffer sizes and the A/D/A converter. The A/D/A converter is usually 2 to 4 MS, and the latency produced by a 128 sample buffer is around 11 MS (I'm doing that one form memory, so it might be off a touch). Most people run their systems at 128 or 256 samples.

And then we can add the latency that happens when Automatic Delay Compensation(the time it takes the computer to do a process that is usually caused by a plug-in being used for EQ, or reverb, or.... The computer takes that time, and automatically delays your entire audio stream by the complete amount of latency being cause by this process. That's the real big and messy one that can happen with Logic. If you record with ADC on, and then quantize, your midi can be moved to the wrong place, or decide to try and fix it by turning it off after you have recorded a few passes with it on, then change your mind.

So.... basically it's a freaking mess. I recommend you 1) keep a smaller buffer when recording (either 128 or 256 samples), 2) Set your Automatic Delay compensation in Logic to "All" so Logic keeps everything in line, 3) Avoid using plug-ins that introduce a large amount of latency until mixing (Linear EQ or Multipressor for example, in fact I'd suggest avoiding any Apple presets, they tend to either use these latency causing settings, or use plugins that can add allot of CPU drain if too many are used, like space designer for example.).

Finally you can use the "low latency mode" button when recording to be assured that you are getting things to land in the place they were meant to every time.

I hope this makes some kind of sense, latency is a very confusing topic, due to the details and the number of ways and places it can come into play from.


BTW The lesson you posted too talked about midi, and today, using VI's, midi latency is pretty much non existent.
 
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