Please Help - Unable to adjust buffer size with Scarlett 2i4

[Tekhed66]

Hi

I'm hoping someone out there can help me with an unexpected problem.

I just bought a Scarlett 2i4 to replace my previous M-audio interface. The Scarlett drivers were installed from the Focusrite website and installation went without a hitch.

I went to the Live preferences to setup the new audio device and I've found that I can't adjust the buffer size... I also can't adjust the input latency and output latency. The Live preference menu doesn't give me a value box that I can edit and the buffer is set to 512 samples, the input latency is set to 24.2ms and the output latency set to 34.9ms. This gives me a whopping 59.1ms of overall latency!!!

The only variables that I can adjust are the in/out sample rate (Ive set it to 48,000) but this has no effect on the overall latency time.

I can adjust the driver Error Compensation and if I set it to -50.0ms, the overall latency drops to 9.08ms.

I've tried setting up the driver as per the ASIO Hardware Setup tutorial that comes with Live but the tutorial goes on about adjusting the Input/Output Latency and adjusting Buffer sizes while monitoring the test tone and I'm not presented with an option to adjust these values.

If I click on the hardware setup button, I get a bare-bones Focusrite menu that has a slider to adjust Buffer Length (from 0 to 10ms) and a drop down menu to adjust the sample rate. It also gives me a non-editable readout of the Live input and Output buffer size (which is 24.2ms and 34.9ms, respectively).

So - my question(s): does anyone else have this problem? Have you worked out how to fix it (reduce the buffer size) or at least reduce the huge latency? Is there another/better driver out there??

I'm using Live 9.2.3 (32bit), Win 7, Scarlett 2i4 (latest drivers from website).

Thanks very much for any help or suggestions.

[Tekhed66]

Hi all

I've been having major issues with my Scarlett 2i4 and Live 9.2 ... basically, Live won't allow me to change the buffer size and I'm stuck with huge (50ms or more) latency. The computer I've been using is my PC running Win7 64bit although I'm using a 32bit version of Live.

I use a Mac Air with my band and the other night during rehearsal, I plugged in the Scarlett only to find that Mac (OS Yosemite) has got all the bells and whistles... it allows me to adjust the buffer and latency all but disappears.

I can adjust parameters with my Mac but I can't with my PC.... Not sure why this is happening but I thought that it might be of interest or help to some of you.

[Tagor]

i am used to change this not in live, but in the driver-software.

[boscomatthew]

Hi I am having the same problem .
cannot adjust the buffer size on my dell laptop. it just sticks to some 442 samples.Even when i ty to input say 1024 it goes back to 442
when i go to global settings there is a slider till 10 ms only.
Be grateful if anyone knows why this is happening and how could i change it

thanks in advance

[Tarekith]

Have you tried contacting Focusrite support to see what they say?

[boscomatthew]

No not yet

THANKS

[Tekhed66]

Hi Bosco

I posted the original question to the forum a while back and so far, I still can't change the buffer size from within Live. I found that I can change the buffer size by adjusting the buffer length through the Focusrite audio driver software.

If you're using a PC, go to your Start menu and look for the Focusrite folder ... buried in there (I hope) will be something called Focusrite USB 2.0 Audio Driver. I've found that by setting the driver buffer length to 5ms results in a Live buffer size of 256 samples and an overall latency of 35.3ms. If I reduce the audio driver latency to less than 5ms, the overall latency (as measured by Live) also goes down but I sometimes start to get crackles and distortion though this might not be the case for your setup.

I have no idea why my Mac lets me control buffer size directly from the Live preference page ... my PC isn't 100% perfect but it's good enough for me to record and play around.

cheers

[boscomatthew]

Hey thanks so much for your reply. Will check that out.
Thanks once again