Going extreme on buffer values in either direction can cause playback issues. Too low can make the CPU choke and too high can make data unavailable (buffer not full) when the CPU needs it. A buffer value of 128 or 256 should satisfy many cases, but aggressive plugins or large projects can require this to be increased to 512 or 1024. For initial settings, you should use a simple project to analyze your system first, then work up from there.

Latency by itself simply is the delay incurred from routing/processing. When tracking/recording you want those low. Above 10ms begins to become audible. For "playback only" such as mixing, higher latency is no issue other than the delay from hitting the space bar to hearing sound. However, large buffer can cause pops/clicks because the system cannot feed the CPU smoothly.

Thx for the lesson mettelus!

eph221
Sorry about the confusion, I meant crackles and pops which means that the audio buffers are late in filling up. I confused that with the colloquial *latency*.  

there's nothing 'colloquial' about latency in regards to audio.
you want the smallest number for buffers your system will allow, to reduce latency.
there are many things to tweak to get there.

batsbrew

eph221
Sorry about the confusion, I meant crackles and pops which means that the audio buffers are late in filling up. I confused that with the colloquial *latency*.  

there's nothing 'colloquial' about latency in regards to audio.
you want the smallest number for buffers your system will allow, to reduce latency.
there are many things to tweak to get there.

I guess the issue is, how small can your buffers be before your system becomes unstable? If 1024 samples is too small - then there are serious issues (i.e. background processes) that need to be dealt with.
 
Of course, as batsbrew notes, ideally, you want to use the smallest buffer possible - to reduce audio latency when live monitoring. In this case, 1024 samples will make monitoring in real-time impossible. 
 
It all comes down to choices. I chose to deal with the latency issue by getting an audio interface with built-in effects and real-time monitoring. Other's might choose to go with a fast PC with fewer background processes instead.

Super G, I got the Apollo Twin USB for that, but unfortunately, and others may not know this, your computer has to have native USB 3 on the MB (not just an add in card).  It's a great deal no doubt.  I think they're $799 at AMerican Musical Supply and you get like 10 plug ins.

eph221
Super G, I got the Apollo Twin USB for that, but unfortunately, and others may not know this, your computer has to have native USB 3 on the MB (not just an add in card).  It's a great deal no doubt.  I think they're $799 at AMerican Musical Supply and you get like 10 plug ins.

I had some some horrible noise issues myself. My Motu Ultralite was connected to my new PC via USB. The Ultralite can connect via either USB or firewire.
 
My PC has both USB 3 and USB 2 ports, so I tried connecting the Motu on every port, but never got rid of the noise. I'm thinking the factory installed OS on the PC was less than optimally tuned, wrong drivers, whatever.
 
I got mad at it, bought a PCIe firewire card for the PC, wiped the hard drive, and installed Windows 10. I'm not looking back. Everything's copacetic.