Help - MIDI delay

jebuz

Hi Folks,

New to this forum so a bit of info on my setup first. I'm using a yamaha DGX keyboard as my MIDI input to my PC running Reaper software, and outputting sound via an Audigy sound card. I basically (try) compose instrumental only pieces using the keyboard input to represent each sound, whether it be piano, guitar, bass etc, I'm sure you're all familiar anyway. I've only recently upgraded to the Reaper software package so I can use VSTI's. Previously I was using a basic MIDI package called Evolution Audio Lite which didn't use VSTI's so there weren't any problems as such.

Now the problem is there is a slight, but very noticeable delay from the moment I hit a note/chord on the keyboard to the sound coming out of my PC speakers. I originally thought it may have been the MIDI cable since I was using an old one which plugs into the game port of my sound card. I got a new USB cable off ebay yesterday and tried it but still the delay remains. Does anybody know what may be causing this? Is it my sound card? my PC speed (~1.8Ghz, 256RAM)? My keyboard? The settings in my software? I've tried a few things but can't figure it out.

Any help appreciated, as there is no way I can record properly until I fix this problem.

Conor.

cornbb

You need to configure your soundcard to reduce this delay or "latency". You'll need to select ASIO drivers in order to do so. I did a quick search and found this tutorial for doing this in Reaper: http://www.gearwire.com/reaper-1884-audioaudiosetup-asio.html

Your Audigy probably comes with one or more ASIO drivers, you can also download and try ASIO4ALL, see which works better.

When it comes to configuring the latency, try to get it to 10ms or less, as low as you can get it without hearing pops or crackles.

Hope that helps.

PaulBrewer

Ah! The bane of every computer musician's life - LATENCY!

Essentially it's a processing delay from the card/computer combination. So you kit a key and the delay is the time it takes for the system to process and execute that instruction.

While it's not my area of expertise I seem to remember that Audigy are considered to be more gaming cards more so than music ones - hence latency is of much less importance.

I'm sure there'll be someone else here who can clarify that.

frobisher

All of the above!

jebuz

Thanks for the speedy replies.

@Cornbb, As far as I remember, I did select an ASIO driver when setting up Reaper as the tutorial told me to select it if it was available. There may however be "latency" settings I can try tweak. I'll take a read of that tutorial when I get home after work, and let you know how I get on. Thanks again.

@Paul, didn't know that about Audigy sound cards, I bought it with the perception that it was a superior sounding card and would be useful for recording. Might look at investing in a new sound card if this is the case, any recommendations while I'm here? What are the advantages of an external sound cards for music production? I'm guessing it would be useful for switching platforms, e.g if I wanted to record on laptop rather than PC.

PaulBrewer

jebuz wrote: »

Thanks for the speedy replies.



@Paul, didn't know that about Audigy sound cards, I bought it with the perception that it was a superior sounding card and would be useful for recording. Might look at investing in a new sound card if this is the case, any recommendations while I'm here? What are the advantages of an external sound cards for music production? I'm guessing it would be useful for switching platforms, e.g if I wanted to record on laptop rather than PC.

That's hearsay from me regarding Audigy! You'll have to check and I am open to correction.

I'm not sure there are any particular advantages in having a sound card external, expcept perhaps to get it away from the RF of the computer internals.

A better soundcard give you better sound, internal or external!

The advantages of that are much more than just 'sounding' better, though that in itself is very desirable, obviously.

When the quality is raised you'll find you EQ less, you're stereo image is better etc etc. the bass end is 'tighter'

This gives you a much bigger sonic space to mix into, subtleties aren't lost which is often the case for budget units.

In essence, ya gets wha ya pays for!

cornbb

As Paul said its a high end card for gaming/watching DVDs etc but its not geared towards making music. But as long as you can fix the latency problem, the Audigy should do the job for what you're using it for. I started making electronic music on a PCMCIA audigy myself. If you need to record anything (i.e. if you need inputs as well as outputs) then thats a different story and you should think about picking something else up. Check out the stickies at the top of the page for some general advice on audio interfaces.