Anderton
You'll figure it out. Low latency on a laptop is like a combination lock - all the tumblers have to be in place before it will open.

You got that right!
I installed Platinum and everything went haywire!
It changed my audio and driver settings (everything was set to play from my Babyface ADAT output and it took me a while to figure out why I wasn't getting any sound!) and I had to start from scratch because the transport was running erratically and slow and I was getting glitches and audio pops. I am using no plug-ins and the sequence I am playing is very minimal, drums, bass, organ and synth.
I re-read everything here again and then started playing around with the settings without really understanding exactly what I was doing!
After about 1 hour of trying I ended up with the following settings and no glitches:

Audio Driver Bit Depth = 24
64-bit Double Precision Engine = ticked
Sampling Rate = 96000
Effective Latency at 96kHz/stereo: 2.7 msec
Asio reported latencies:
Input: 3.2 msec, 311 samples
Output: 3.3 msec, 319 samples
Total roundtrip: 6.6 msec, 630 samples
Playback I/O Buffer Size 256
Record I/O Buffer Size 256
Buffer Size (Latency) RME Babyface = 256 samples


I would just love to actually understand precisely which setting makes the difference, it is really frustrating, I thought I was reasonably intelligent, but this stuff baffles me!

If I was going too start mixing now and adding fx, is there anything I should change in the settings above?
Is there any article or post that you can point me to to explain these settings in depth?
Thanks for any input.

Unless you have done it for a specific reason I would personally knock back the sample rate from 96 to 48

I don't want to open the whole sample rate debate but I would this would be my suggestion as a good balance between quality and file size

You may be able to knock your buffer size down a bit from 256 when recording/tracking to get a better "feel" and then knock it up to 1024 for mixing /mastering where latency doesn't matter

This is the setting you can play around with to find the right balance for a particular job

Boydie
Unless you have done it for a specific reason I would personally knock back the sample rate from 96 to 48

No, I didn't do it for a specific reason, as I said, trial and error. If I knock it down to 48 or 44.1, the latency doubles! Also when I try knocking the buffer size down to 128 the audio glitches and pops terribly. 
Could it be that my sound card "likes" working at 96000?

ON MY system, I find a great deal of success with:
 
For Tracking/Recording:
 
Driver Mode: ASIO, Sample Rate: 48 k, ASIO Buffer Size: 128, Recording Bit-Depth: 24 Bits
 
For Mixing/Mastering:
 
Adjust ASIO Buffer Size to 1024, to allow DPC-latency inducing plugins to have enough buffer size to support thing like look-ahead processing or CPU-chewing plugins.
 
Use LatencyMon to check your system's ability to handle streaming audio applications, such as Sonar/  Download it from: http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon
 
If using a laptop, see if either physically turning off the Wi-Fi adapter or Disabling it (in Windows Device Manager) just prior to launching your Sonar session, then turning it back on or enabling after completion of the Sonar session, to regain access to the internet.  (WI-Fi- adapters/drivers can wreak havoc with big DPC Latency spikes.  LatencyMon can confirm this.
 
Another common cause is trying to do recording/tracking while a bunch of plugins are loaded - where one or more of the plugins are either chewing up a bunch of CPU or inducing y by using techniques such as look-ahead processing.  An easy test of this being an issue is to hit 'E' on the computer keyboard, which will toggle the Bypass All Effects functionality, and see if that makes the problems go away.  IF they do, then you know that at least one of the loaded effects is problematic if loaded when tracking/recording.  Any such plugin should be either swapped out temporarily for a 'leaner-running' plugin, or you could finish your tracking with all effects bypassed, etc.  (by the way, hitting 'E' again will toggle all effects processing back on).
 
I hope some of the above helps you get to the bottom of this, 
 
Bob Bone
 

Thanks Bob, but as I already wrote, I can't make my system work with these settings!

I will definitely try the Wi-Fi adaptor fix and the tip about changing settings for mixing.
Cheers

I know you are having issues at those settings - I was only posting those because it seems like something is interfering with running at those settings, and maybe between us all we can get you sorted out, so that you CAN run at those settings (caps for emphasis only, not tone). :)
 
Also, yes the latency will double when you run at say 256 for an ASIO Buffer Size, and a sample rate of 96 k and then drop the sample rate to 48 k.  That is because it also involves the ASIO Buffer Size - so if you lower the sample rate to 48 k, you should consider also lowering the ASIO Buffer Size - to 128, to maintain comparative latency to what you had at 96 k and 256.
 
I TRULY believe there is a way to get this all worked out, as for most folks it does end up getting worked out, so I think it is a matter of just working with it and doing so despite massive frustration.  (I also hope I am not frustrating you with anything I post).
 
If you run LatencyMon without Sonar running, and with your Wi-Fi adapter functioning/enabled, it should give you a good idea of where bottlenecks are on your system.  My thinking is indeed that the Wi-Fi adapter/drivers are part of the issue, and that should be confirmed through running LatencyMon for a few minutes.
 
If it does show the Wi-Fi being an issue, then I would suggest an additional test of running LatencyMon for a few minutes, this time also without Sonar running, and with the Wi-Fi adapter/drivers either physically turned off or disabled through Windows Device Manager.
 
At that point, if LatencyMon thinks things are OK with performance for streaming audio, then I would try running Sonar with the 48 K and ASIO Buffer Size of 128, and 24-bit recording bit-depth, to see if that addressed the problem.
 
All of the above is doable in a pretty short amount of time, and at the end of it all, should you end up with decent performance and latency with the Wi-Fi disabled during Sonar sessions, you would just then make the process to disable Wi-Fi immediately prior to launching Sonar, then launch and go through your Sonar session, then after closing Sonar simply enable the Wi-Fi again to regain internet access.
 
I hope any of the above helps, 
 
Bob Bone
 
 

Thanks Bob, of course I am not frustrated with anything you have written! I am always amazed and grateful when people much more knowledgeable and experienced than I, take their time to offer help and suggestions.
I will definitely try all your suggestions tomorrow and post the results.
However, is there something wrong with running Sonar at the settings I posted? As I said, it is now running smoothly, so it may be a case of "if it ain't broke…"
Cheers

There's nothing wrong with using 96khz sample rate. Just remember you are using twice the amount of disc space for the any given amount of time compared to 48khz sample rate.
The other factor is that it means your CPU and hard disk drive have twice the data to process.

I've never known Wifi to effect latency but it does have an effect on data through put and can cause (at the least) crackles in the audio sound as its being recorded and or playing back to audio dropouts (at the worst). That of course causes the audio engine to stop. Neither of those extremes is acceptable for audio work. So as a general matter of good practice most of us turn wifi off during sessions.

The RME Babyface has as good a set of drivers as its possible to get and there is nothing cheap about it that you should need to look to the device for problems, but make sure you have the latest drivers installed and that it has the most recent firmware. The RME manuals are very good to help you setup low latency settings with your device.

As per the things you've told us I would as a first step turn off 64 double precision audio engine.

You should definitely run the tests as suggested by the others.

percepto
Thanks Bob, of course I am not frustrated with anything you have written! I am always amazed and grateful when people much more knowledgeable and experienced than I, take their time to offer help and suggestions.
I will definitely try all your suggestions tomorrow and post the results.
However, is there something wrong with running Sonar at the settings I posted? As I said, it is now running smoothly, so it may be a case of "if it ain't broke…"
Cheers

If things are actually working smoothly, that's the important thing.  What though do you mean by smoothly?  (96 k does chew up disk space, though).
 
DO run LatencyMon though, and see where things are at.  It won't change or hurt anything.
 
Bob Bone
 

So here we go again, this is really stifling the creative process!
I ran Latency Monitor which told me that my system was suitable for running audio without problems. I read the help file but it's not much use having all these stats if I can't interpret them correctly! I disabled my Wi-Fi adaptor which stopped the hard page faults appearing (whatever they are!)
I changed my settings to 48k, buffer at 128 and I am testing it by running a basic sequence in matrix mode. At 96k and 256 I can click on the columns as fast and as randomly as I like and nothing drops out or clicks. Now (48k, 128) I am getting an irregular slight distortion/crackle as if something is peaking. It is subtle but it is there. Also midi notes will hang if I click across a beat in Matrix mode. It doesn't do this at 96k and 256.
I tried it with 64-bit engine checked and unchecked and I can't see a difference.
I am using the Asio driver, is this correct?
I am so confused!