Latency issues with Focusrite interface.

I have latency issues when playing VST i's through the Focusrite interface. I don't have any issues with my ZOOM interfaces and I had this problem even before Band Lab took over so it has to be a problem within the software. It is safe to say it is not my setup because I don't have any latency issues with any other DAW I use.
 
Any suggestions? 
Thanks for any help.

I also have problems at times with latency using my Scarlett AI when I play my midi keyboard through the DAW.
You can fiddle with buffers and all that (search the forum for latency to find about a million suggestions). While this helps, for me it was not a 100% solution. You can also try the PDC button (Plugin Delay Compensation), which for me helped the latency, but seemed to mess up the timing of my tracks on playback.
Something I DO want to try, though, is based on what I read recently on the forum about how some effects will cause latency...this is all I know, and I planned on researching some more, but it sounded promising.
I do not play real-time along with my projects through the DAW all that often, so this has not been a huge issue for me...but it is annoying.

There is nothing inherent about Cakewalk that would produce latency where other DAWs do not. More information is needed, like what driver you're using.
 
Meanwhile, create a new project with only the VSTi that appears to be causing issues, and see what happens.

Liquid Noise 23
I had the Focusrite 18i8 first generation which I talked with Focusrite directly and they provided me with a beta driver that worked for awhile. Then I updated Sonar and had problems again. I finally sent the 18i8 back to Sweetwater and they fixed the problem. I don't know what they did. Then I got a Focusrite 6i6 2nd Gen. and that has the same issues but both work fine in other DAWs. All drivers are current and up to date. My PC is running Windows 10. I guess the problem could be that Focusrite just doesn't play nice with Cakewalk. I also tried ASIO for all and that did not work.

The last time Focusrite sent me a beta driver for my gen 1 2i4 - it was to fix audio problems in Windows 10. Just playing any audio app at all. My issue wasn't related to DAWs. After the Windows 10 Anniversary update, I (and a few other users from a non-DAW related forum) were getting audio dropouts, too in Windows 10. Surprisingly, switching from a USB 3.0 port to a USB 2.0 port solved the issue. Something seemed to have changed after the Anniversary update. Now, my 2i4 bypasses all USB 3.0 ports on my PC tower case and goes directly to the USB 2.0 port on the motherboard.
It works perfectly with Cakewalk.

I have the same problem but unfortunately don't have a solution to suggest. I'm using a Focusrite 18i8. The latency when recording MIDI with VSTs is so bad that it's just about impossible to record, even after adjusting the buffers and all that. Like the original poster, I tried recording on another popular DAW and had no noticeable latency. So I'm in the camp that suspects some kind of Cakewalk-Focusrite incompatibility.
 
A few years ago, the audio driver for Focusrite was causing SPLAT to crash every 10 minutes. Beta driver fixed that. It does seem to be an ongoing struggle to get that hardware to work with this software.
 
 

jwadley
I have the same problem but unfortunately don't have a solution to suggest. I'm using a Focusrite 18i8. The latency when recording MIDI with VSTs is so bad that it's just about impossible to record, even after adjusting the buffers and all that. Like the original poster, I tried recording on another popular DAW and had no noticeable latency. So I'm in the camp that suspects some kind of Cakewalk-Focusrite incompatibility.
 
A few years ago, the audio driver for Focusrite was causing SPLAT to crash every 10 minutes. Beta driver fixed that. It does seem to be an ongoing struggle to get that hardware to work with this software.
 
 

I'm using a Focusrite Audio interface (2i4 gen1) and it's fine with Cakewalk. Maybe you should stay with what worked for you, be that different hardware or a different DAW. 
The only issues I've had with my Focusrite 2i4 in the past were unrelated to DAWs.
This Focusrite product compatibility with Windows 10 'Fall Creators Update' support page at Focusrite.com focuses on the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Soon, we will have the Windows 10 Spring (April or May) update, so you might try a clean Windows 10 install of that - to reduce the possibility of issues. I like Windows very much, but I must admit that so many updates can be annoying. Again, they all seem unrelated to DAWs though for me. Welcome to the forum. I hope you can enjoy Cakewalk by BandLab (or the online version of BandLab).
 
As Jerry reminds us above, try USB 2.0. I use a 5 or 6 year old motherboard (Z77X-UP7) and connect the 2i4 directly to the USB 2.0. (MY 2i4 is a USB 2.0 device.) After so many years, this seems illogical at first, but Windows 10 changed something or had compatibility issues with the focusrite driver after the Anniversary or Creators Update, so I and a few other people needed to switch to USB 2.0 from USB 3.0 to eliminate audio dropouts in Windows in general. This was unrelated to DAWs. I was a little disappointed that I picked up a gen 1 2i4 only to find that the company was selling gen 2 (which have lower latency in general). I'm curious if they offer a discount for part-exchanging the old for the new.
 
Anyway, I would cleanly reinstall Windows now or after the next Spring (April or May) update and try everything cleanly with a fresh Windows install. Like I said, my gen 1 Focusrite 2i4 is working fine in Windows and with Cakewalk.
Any issues above were unrelated to DAWs.

I found out all of my latency problems were because I was using a lot of plugins, and I did not regularly freeze my tracks. I now freeze all tracks and shut off all (or most) processing effects, especially mastering effects and the latency returns to an acceptable amount of delay. Took me years to figure that out... lol

joakes
FWIW i have an 18i20 second generation, the latest drivers from Focusrite work perfectly, W10 and the lastest Splat/CbB.

I also run it on usb2.

Jerry

Me too!

sock monkey
Nobody has been clear about this but the above post say's what I'm a thinking too.
 
I have Nooo problem if I bypass all effects while tracking. But the minute I use one of those "look ahead" type guys I'm hooped. 
So as a matter of habit I stay away from loading up on plug ins until I get to the mixing stage. 
Oh and I have a Scarlett 6i6 1st gen and use it on W7 and W10 no problem. 
 
The Focusrite stuff are not the best RTL performers anyhow. so keep that input echo off and use the direct monitoring. 

You'll never be able to track whilst using look-ahead type effects - they're designed primarily for mixing/mastering and are not meant to be used whilst tracking.
 
Some may have the option to disable the look-ahead part - otherwise, like Leizer says, disable the effects.
 

GjB
A few of us had audio dropout issues with Focusrite interfaces after one of the Windows 10 updates like the Anniversary update or something. Switching to a USB 2.0 port instead of a USB 3.0 port fixed that issue, believe it or not. If you think you have the right drivers installed, you could try that for your issue just in case.. 

These devices are meant to be connected via USB2. Some of them won't work at all in a USB3 port. But there is no benefit to using a USB3 port for a USB2 audio device. From the Focusrite Help Center:

USB 2.0 vs USB 3.0

AntManB

Larry Jones
 
These devices are meant to be connected via USB2. Some of them won't work at all in a USB3 port. But there is no benefit to using a USB3 port for a USB2 audio device. From the Focusrite Help Center:

USB 2.0 vs USB 3.0

For what it's worth, the same article also states:
 
"USB 2.0 devices work without any issue on USB 3.0 ports"
 

Yes, the Focusrite article does say that, but I have read several times on this forum that audio problems were solved by moving the interface from a USB3 port to a USB2 port. So, given that there is no advantage to USB3, and in at least a few cases it has actually caused problems, I'd go with USB2.