Latency

[sammyman]

When I record on my iMac, I sometimes get some serious latency. I am recording through a firebox right now on an iMac 1.9Ghz with logic express. Is my computer or my firebox the culprit? Is there some device I can buy that will eliminate this latency, or do I need a MacPro?

[zimv20]

when you say you "get latency", what exactly do you mean? how do you hear it?

[sammyman]

when you say you "get latency", what exactly do you mean? how do you hear it?

I strum the guitar and hear it back with over a 1 second delay when recording.

[zimv20]

it's over a second? that's really out of hand.

so long as you're monitoring post-conversion, you'll get latency. how much depends on the hardware and software you're using, plug settings such as record buffer size (the bigger it is, the more latency you'll hear).

> 1 sec is really quite long. it makes me wonder if you've got a delay or reverb plug or something on, with mix @ 100%.

anyway, the way to combat latency is to grab the signal before it hits the a/d converters, with some implementation of a y-cable. some gear has extra outs, or you can half-normal a patchbay, or you can actually just use a y-cable.

but also look into why your latency is so extreme.