Marshall
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Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
Hi
I have a new PC - Intel i3 Dual 2100 3.1Ghz, 4GB RAM running 32 bit version of X1 Producer.
The audio interface is a Focusrite Saffire USB 6 USB.
Everything's OK until I connect a guitar to the Focusrite and run it through Guitar Rig. There is a significant gap between striking a string and the processed sound being heard. I am new to the Focusrite. I have the mixer knob turned all the way round to playback. If It's at the other end of the dial, at input, there is no latency, but I can't hear the playback of the other tracks, or of course the processed sound of the guitar. If the mixer knob is anywhere in the middle, I get an unwanted chorus effect. Also, if I add another effect, for example Perfect Space, then the latency is even worse.
In Sonar, under the playback and recording options, the Driver is set to WDM/KS. I thought this should be ASIO, but when I tried changing it, I got a bunch of "Warning" messages and changed it back.
Can someone help me - I am unfamiliar with the Focusrite...what am I doing wrong please? Is it a setting in Sonar, or the hardware I need to alter?
(As an aside, in my old computer I had an Audiophile PCI card with the output routed to a small mixer, and there was no noticeable gap between striking a string and hearing the processed sound.)
Bill
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Beagle
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 11:58:50
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guitar rig is a serious CPU hog and will also introduce latency.
what were the "warning messges" you got with changing to ASIO? we need to know specifics.
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Plazma
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 12:16:12
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Hi Marshall,
I have a SAffire 6 USB interface and can record guitars with almost no latency. My pc is not nearly as cool as yours.
The settings on your Saffire 6 are good.
Let's see if we can sort you out:
Have a look at your Sonar settings. You can use the WDM driver mode. WHat is the latency in in your Audio properties page in Sonar?
Sonar X2 Producer. Focusrite Saffire 6, Fender Strat, black PC for recording and mixing. That is all.
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Marshall
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 12:27:38
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Plazma
Hi Marshall,
I have a SAffire 6 USB interface and can record guitars with almost no latency. My pc is not nearly as cool as yours.
The settings on your Saffire 6 are good.
Let's see if we can sort you out:
Have a look at your Sonar settings. You can use the WDM driver mode. WHat is the latency in in your Audio properties page in Sonar?
Hi Plazma The mixing latency is 30 msecs. Is that the figure you mean?
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Plazma
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 12:36:01
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Hi,
Yes. You need to move that 'mixing latency' slider all the way to the left.
Mine is set at 6ms.
You should be able to set yours at 6, or maybe even lower, and not hear any drop-outs or stuttering when you play back your recordings. Give it a try.
Sonar X2 Producer. Focusrite Saffire 6, Fender Strat, black PC for recording and mixing. That is all.
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Marshall
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 12:36:51
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Beagle
guitar rig is a serious CPU hog and will also introduce latency.
what were the "warning messges" you got with changing to ASIO? we need to know specifics.
Message is "Missing Audio Outputs. The following audio output devices used by this product are not available. You may reassign them to any other available device or click OK to default assignments below. Click cancel to retain the original output assignments. (These outputs will remain silent until reassigned to an available output." Then the Missing Audio Device is shown as "Saffire" and the Available Device as Focusrite USB ASIO Driver Output 1.
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Plazma
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 12:44:38
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Restart your pc and try again.
Sonar X2 Producer. Focusrite Saffire 6, Fender Strat, black PC for recording and mixing. That is all.
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Marshall
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 12:45:31
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Plazma
Hi,
Yes. You need to move that 'mixing latency' slider all the way to the left.
Mine is set at 6ms.
You should be able to set yours at 6, or maybe even lower, and not hear any drop-outs or stuttering when you play back your recordings. Give it a try.
That is better but not perfect. I'm down to 5msecs which is the lowest it can go. But despite having the mixer dial on the Focusrite set hard to output, there seems to be an unprocessed sound coming through just ahead of the processed one, and there is still a slight, and off putting delay. Anything else I can try?
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Marshall
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 12:57:39
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Plazma
Restart your pc and try again.
I have restarted, but no better. Are you saying I should try to swap to ASIO first, before rebooting? TBO, I didn't know what to do when that Missing Audio message came up.
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Plazma
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 13:09:49
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Sorry, had my tea!
You should select the WDM drivers.
Exit Sonar.
Reboot.
Go to audio proerties.
Slide the mixing latency to 6ms (for now).
Do a test recording.
By the way, you need to disable ALL Windows sounds.
Sonar X2 Producer. Focusrite Saffire 6, Fender Strat, black PC for recording and mixing. That is all.
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Plazma
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 13:12:12
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PM me your emsail address and I'll give you a screen grab of my audio properties page.
Sonar X2 Producer. Focusrite Saffire 6, Fender Strat, black PC for recording and mixing. That is all.
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Marshall
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 13:14:27
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Plazma
Sorry, had my tea!
You should select the WDM drivers.
Exit Sonar.
Reboot.
Go to audio proerties.
Slide the mixing latency to 6ms (for now).
Do a test recording.
By the way, you need to disable ALL Windows sounds.
I have done all that...and whilst it records OK, playing is very difficult if not impossible because I am still hearing an unprocessed sound followed (I guess) 5 msecs later by the processed one. I hope you didn't eat your tea too quickly and got indigestion!!
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sykodelic
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 13:14:27
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Did you download the latest asio drivers from focusrite? I run this interface on my lappy in asio mode with no issues.
Asus P8P67 pro, I7 2600K, 8G Kingston Hyperflex, 2 1T WD Caviar Black(sytem,audio), 2T WD Caviar Black(samples), RME Multiface, Roland A500 Pro, Windows 7 Ultimate 64, Sonar X1C, Ableton Live 8, Reason 6, Komplete 7, DCAM Synth Squad, Omnisphere, Stylus RMX, Trillian
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Beagle
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 13:29:43
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I agree you need to disable windows sounds, but that has nothing to do with latency using GR.
Marshall - while Plazma seems to be working fine in WDM driver mode, it seems you are not. I would still try ASIO. what happens when you change to Focusrite USB ASIO Driver Output 1?
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Marshall
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 15:45:40
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Beagle
I agree you need to disable windows sounds, but that has nothing to do with latency using GR.
Marshall - while Plazma seems to be working fine in WDM driver mode, it seems you are not. I would still try ASIO. what happens when you change to Focusrite USB ASIO Driver Output 1?
When I try to switch to ASIO I get the message: "Missing Audio Outputs. The following audio output devices used by this product are not available. You may reassign them to any other available device or click OK to default assignments below. Click cancel to retain the original output assignments." If I then click OK, I then get: "Unable to open audio record device.Device may not support the current project's audio format or may be in use.. For help please conatct Cakewalk technical support etc..."
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sykodelic
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 16:21:24
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it really sounds like a driver issue. make sure you have to asio drivers installed...
Asus P8P67 pro, I7 2600K, 8G Kingston Hyperflex, 2 1T WD Caviar Black(sytem,audio), 2T WD Caviar Black(samples), RME Multiface, Roland A500 Pro, Windows 7 Ultimate 64, Sonar X1C, Ableton Live 8, Reason 6, Komplete 7, DCAM Synth Squad, Omnisphere, Stylus RMX, Trillian
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Marshall
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 16:32:49
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sykodelic
it really sounds like a driver issue. make sure you have to asio drivers installed...
How do I check whether I have asio drivers installed. Please excuse my ignorance..!
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evzevz
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 16:46:20
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Not to cloud the situation, but you could also give PDC override a try in WDM mode (maybe ASIO as well when you get that going, I don't know ASIO very well). Generally what I do is route the track I am recording directly to the soundcard outs, turn on input monitoring (on that track), and then click the PDC button in the control bar. What this does is effectively route your track without any of the latency incurred by any plugins you have elsewhere in the project. Any plugins you put in this path will add some latency but if your CPU is robust enough you probably wouldn't notice.
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evzevz
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 16:48:49
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Oops, reading comprehension, i forgot you are also running thru Guitar rig. Regardless, you could still give this a try, it might help.
Hope you figure it out!
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sykodelic
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 17:36:28
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Asus P8P67 pro, I7 2600K, 8G Kingston Hyperflex, 2 1T WD Caviar Black(sytem,audio), 2T WD Caviar Black(samples), RME Multiface, Roland A500 Pro, Windows 7 Ultimate 64, Sonar X1C, Ableton Live 8, Reason 6, Komplete 7, DCAM Synth Squad, Omnisphere, Stylus RMX, Trillian
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Beagle
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/18 18:02:39
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Marshall
Beagle
I agree you need to disable windows sounds, but that has nothing to do with latency using GR.
Marshall - while Plazma seems to be working fine in WDM driver mode, it seems you are not. I would still try ASIO. what happens when you change to Focusrite USB ASIO Driver Output 1?
When I try to switch to ASIO I get the message:
"Missing Audio Outputs. The following audio output devices used by this product are not available. You may reassign them to any other available device or click OK to default assignments below. Click cancel to retain the original output assignments."
If I then click OK, I then get:
"Unable to open audio record device.Device may not support the current project's audio format or may be in use.. For help please conatct Cakewalk technical support etc..."
when you get to that message, just click OK. the problem at this point is very likely that you have mismatched sampling rate in this mode. what is your project sampling rate? what is the focusrite sampling rate set to? (check in the focusrite software panel) they must match.
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Marshall
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/19 05:42:15
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Beagle
Marshall
Beagle
I agree you need to disable windows sounds, but that has nothing to do with latency using GR.
Marshall - while Plazma seems to be working fine in WDM driver mode, it seems you are not. I would still try ASIO. what happens when you change to Focusrite USB ASIO Driver Output 1?
When I try to switch to ASIO I get the message:
"Missing Audio Outputs. The following audio output devices used by this product are not available. You may reassign them to any other available device or click OK to default assignments below. Click cancel to retain the original output assignments."
If I then click OK, I then get:
"Unable to open audio record device.Device may not support the current project's audio format or may be in use.. For help please conatct Cakewalk technical support etc..."
when you get to that message, just click OK. the problem at this point is very likely that you have mismatched sampling rate in this mode. what is your project sampling rate? what is the focusrite sampling rate set to? (check in the focusrite software panel) they must match.
That does sound like that might have been the problem. Unfortunately I tried reinstalling the Focusrite driver, and having done so, any sound I played through Sonar then was grossly distorted, so I thought, no problem, I'll just do a system restore. I did this and now I can only open the PC in Safe Mode!! I have had this machine a week, which was supplied by a specialist audio pc supplier. So I think rather than trying anything else, I will call them tomorrow morning when they open again. Disaster! Thank you to all who have tried to help me...I will let you know when this is resolved.
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Beagle
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Re:Focusrite Saffire 6 USB latency problem
2011/06/19 08:40:00
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yeah, if you can't get windows to open except thru safe mode then you need windows diagnostics. a tech might be able to fix it for you, it could be just a driver problem, but it might require reinstalling windows (ouch)
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