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Latency issues with MIDI only controller

M

MarkVukalcic

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 31, 2008
5
0
Hello-This is my first foray into the forum; I have a Roland RD-300s digital piano-88 keys with nice weighted action. I am looking to purchase a Mac Book Pro + Logic 8 with MainStage. My controller is 18+ years old, but I love the action; it is MIDI only. From various threads, I've gleaned that the computer's
CPU & RAM are paramount, but will latency be an issue? I like straight ahead clean piano sounds for R&B, jazz, some layering when comping behind a singer.
Also, are the pianos in MainStage adequate---Recommendations and compatibility with Logic? Thanks:):
 
MarkVukalcic said:
Hello-This is my first foray into the forum; I have a Roland RD-300s digital piano-88 keys with nice weighted action. I am looking to purchase a Mac Book Pro + Logic 8 with MainStage. My controller is 18+ years old, but I love the action; it is MIDI only. From various threads, I've gleaned that the computer's
CPU & RAM are paramount, but will latency be an issue? I like straight ahead clean piano sounds for R&B, jazz, some layering when comping behind a singer.
Also, are the pianos in MainStage adequate---Recommendations and compatibility with Logic? Thanks:):
Click to expand...

Any modern day mac will not be a problem. Not one bit. You just have to set the latency low (128, 256, maybe even 512 is acceptable) and away you go.
 
electronique said:
Yes it does..Latency relates to drivers/settings/buffers etc within your audio interface.. Whether it be midi/audio...
Click to expand...

You're very wrong.
Latency issues are generally in direct relation to A/D (D/A as well if you work OTB). Basically no external audio source = no problem.
Seeing as everything will be handled internally (controlled via midi), simply setting buffer low will be fine. A 'decent audio interface' won't make an ounce of difference.
 
junior said:
You're very wrong.
Latency issues are generally in direct relation to A/D (D/A as well if you work OTB). Basically no external audio source = no problem.
Seeing as everything will be handled internally (controlled via midi), simply setting buffer low will be fine. A 'decent audio interface' won't make an ounce of difference.
Click to expand...

No no.
The Audio Interface (or soundcard if you wish to use one) still has to process the D/A conversion..

Q How do I switch off the time delay when playing my VST Instrument in real time?

Sadly, this is not an option -- if you hear an obvious gap between pressing a note on an external MIDI keyboard and hearing any sound on a VST Instrument then you are suffering from the latency of your soundcard drivers (see the feature on latency in SOS April '99 for more details). For the delay to be small enough to be unnoticeable you'll need a latency of 20mS or less, and for this you really need to be running ASIO or EASI drivers. If your soundcard doesn't provide these as an option then PC owners may still get very acceptable performance using DirectX drivers, although you can't normally record audio when using these.

Thankfully, latency only affects you when recording, so one option for those suffering from a slow real-time response is to play in your MIDI tracks using a hardware synth, so that you can perform properly, and then to direct the output of the track to your VST Instrument once you have finished recording. It may not be ideal, but it works.
Click to expand...
Taken from here
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec00/articles/vst.asp
 
electronique said:
No no.
The Audio Interface (or soundcard if you wish to use one) still has to process the D/A conversion..


Taken from here
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec00/articles/vst.asp
Click to expand...

I have no recollection of how sound cards were 8 years ago, but may I suggest you start up any VI on your mac right now, output through the regular sound card with buffer at 128 and tell me, honestly, whether you notice ANY latency?
I'll bet you can't, which was my point to begin with.
D/A conversion is nowhere near as troublesome as A/D, particularly in the OP's case.
 
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