I just got myself set up on a new PC --- everything seems fine, except I have noticeable latency when playing soft synths (which I did not have in my old PC).

Driver mode is set to ASIO, and buffer size is 64 --- same result on 128 and 256. 

Midi controller (using a Yamaha Motif XS7) and MOTU Ultralite soundcard drivers, all updated.       

DPC latency checker, all green showing under 150 us (which I am presuming is OK?).

I don't know what else I should check - any suggestions? 

PC specs in signature.

if you have asio4all installed for whatever reason, uninstall it because it hijacks the recording latency adjustment in prefs/audio/sync and caching.  another thing to look at is whether the patch you're using has a short attack time.  in prefs/audio/config file set threadschedulingmodel to 2 and minimizedriverstatechanges to 3.  since you're using a usb audio interface, and i'm guessing usb-midi turn off usb power state management in windows power settings. 

if that doesn't work, delete your aud.ini file, there may be junk in it and reset prefs as above.

how's audio playback??? any problems there?  it could also be helpful to mention a specific synth/patch that you're experiencing this with because there are a ton of us here who will load it up ourselves and see if we can recreate the issue.

hth.
 
edit - oh, yeah - make sure all your gear is hooked up to usb 2.0 buses and not 3.0...

Thanks Swamptooth for the advice.   Turned out to be that the midi keyboard which is connected by USB worked fine in another USB slot... I'm not sure why there was a difference but maybe this USB 2.0 and 3.0 like you suggest above, so thanks for that.

By the way, my audio interface is firewire, not USB (its older Ultralite Mk-3 which was only firewire).

the usb 3 connections are blue plugs, so that's how you tell the diff.. sometimes oems have other hardware sharing usb slots too.  glad you got it all sorted. :D

Well - unfourtunately my problem came back again ... I've been working on a song, and all seems to be fine.  After a while I notice a small but distinct latency  - pressing my Midi keyboard short delay before hearing soft synth sound.   Seems that placing Ozone 5 on the Master Bus causes it.   Seems only some of the Ozone presets does it, not just an instance of Ozone on its own.  My PC is pretty powerful (or so I thought ...) --- should this be happening?   And is there something I can do about it?

There can be two types of plug-ins that can cause this:-
 
CPU intensive plugs like convolution reverbs (Perfect Space)
 
Look Ahead effects, such as the PC Concrete Limiter.
 
Apart from disabling them, there's not a lot you can do.  Only use effects like this when you've finished tracking.  If you have to use them, disable them if you need to record something.  Keyboard shortcut "E" turns off all effects.  I simply disable the specific effects that I know cause latency.  Do not disable PDC.
 
If it's a convolution reverb, use something like Pantheon or Breverb when tracking, and replace it when you've finished.

I had this problem (with Sonar 8.5) and the latency increased as I got further in the project. 

There is a "feature" in 8.5 - when you experience problems, could you try to press Ctrl+D?
This is the "plugin delay compensation override?

A lot of information about timing in this thread

kristoffer


I had this problem (with Sonar 8.5) and the latency increased as I got further in the project. 

There is a "feature" in 8.5 - when you experience problems, could you try to press Ctrl+D?
This is the "plugin delay compensation override?

A lot of information about timing in this thread

The problem with disabling PDC is that it can cause more problems than it solves.  Tracks that weren't out of time may become so.  If a plug in needs PDC, then disabling it will cause that plug in to go out of time.
 
You may find that drum plugs or synths will suddenly be all over the place.  Disabling PDC should not be used to solve latency issues.

Try to see if the problem occurs without any effects.  That will distinguish between a system issue and one caused by a plugin. 'E' on the keyboard should do this.

If it works properly with no plugins, then load them one at a time until you find the offending one.

Bob Bone

Thanks for the replies - its Ozone 5 on my Master bus that is causing the issue.    And its only if I load up some of the presets.    Ozone 5 on a track (which I would not normally do, this was just to see what happened, and I have anyway Alloy for that) does not cause the latency. I'm sure I read on here of other users having Ozone on the Master ... I wasn't expecting this - am I doing something wrong or is this normal?