Playback latency

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
armas
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:17 pm

Playback latency

Post by armas » Tue Apr 03, 2018 8:51 pm

Hi all,

I have this weird issue with Ableton 10 when I press spacebar to playback my arrangement; the actual audio is coming out about 1 second later compared to the actual sample positioning. Any idea what might be causing this?

miyaru
Posts: 1267
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2017 12:08 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Playback latency

Post by miyaru » Tue Apr 03, 2018 9:27 pm

I would not know it anyway, but you are better of stating what system you got with specs......

Also what audiointerface, os etc.
Greetings from Miyaru.
Prodaw i7-7700, 16Gb Ram, Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 3rd gen, ESI M4U eX, Reason 12, Live Suit 10, Push2, Presonus Eris E8 and Monitor Station V2, Lexicon MPX1,
Korg N1, Yamaha RM1x :mrgreen:

fishmonkey
Posts: 4478
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:50 am

Re: Playback latency

Post by fishmonkey » Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:22 am

my guess would be that you are using a Windows machine with a crappy built-in soundcard, and the crappy default audio driver, which has a huge buffer size and hence latency.

but, without the specs of your computer and audio interface, it's all wild guesswork...

armas
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:17 pm

Re: Playback latency

Post by armas » Wed Apr 04, 2018 4:44 am

Hi all,

sorry forgot to mention my setup - I have latest version of Ableton 10 running in MB Pro Mid 2014 with 2,2MHz i7 and 16GM or RAM and built-in soundcard with latest version of High Sierra. Currently used Sample rate is 48k, buffer 1024 samples and driver error compensation 0ms. I could use Ableton 9 with 512 samples but Ableton 10 is causing audio jitter with that so can't go lower than that.

I have other projects where this playback latency does not happen that were made with Ableton 9. These projects do not produce playback latency in Ableton 10 either. However new projects made in Ableton 10create playback latency. Weird. Not sure if these are caused by certain plugins or new settings..

fishmonkey
Posts: 4478
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:50 am

Re: Playback latency

Post by fishmonkey » Wed Apr 04, 2018 4:56 am

does the lag happen every time you stop/start the transport, or only sometimes?

armas
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:17 pm

Re: Playback latency

Post by armas » Wed Apr 04, 2018 5:31 am

fishmonkey wrote:does the lag happen every time you stop/start the transport, or only sometimes?
everytime and constantly throughout the track. I tested by lowering the buffer to 256 and it does help but then naturally starts causing audio jittering due Ableton 10 is a hog compared to Ableton 9. Is there any other solution for this then lowering the buffer?

fishmonkey
Posts: 4478
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:50 am

Re: Playback latency

Post by fishmonkey » Wed Apr 04, 2018 5:36 am

if it only happens in some sets, then more than likely it is related to a plugin or sample library that you are using.

you could probably work out which one pretty quickly with some methodical testing.

Gregwaah
Posts: 44
Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:13 am

Re: Playback latency

Post by Gregwaah » Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:02 am

One plugin I find to be troublesome in the latency department, is Izotope Vocal Synth. It always does what the OP described.

Stromkraft
Posts: 7033
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:34 am

Re: Playback latency

Post by Stromkraft » Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:21 pm

Gregwaah wrote:One plugin I find to be troublesome in the latency department, is Izotope Vocal Synth. It always does what the OP described.
Don't you mean all plug-ins with high latency? If your devices or plug-ins have high latency then this is so. Use other ones until mixdown.
Make some music!

Stromkraft
Posts: 7033
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:34 am

Re: Playback latency

Post by Stromkraft » Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:23 pm

armas wrote: However new projects made in Ableton 10create playback latency. Weird.
So a new largely empty project has high latency for no apparent reason?
Make some music!

armas
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:17 pm

Re: Playback latency

Post by armas » Sat Apr 07, 2018 6:36 am

Stromkraft wrote:
armas wrote: However new projects made in Ableton 10create playback latency. Weird.
So a new largely empty project has high latency for no apparent reason?
empty project does not have latency - as mentioned, the reason most likely is the plugins used from wich I have hooked on Massive, iZotope Ozone 8 and then Ableton Reverb.

fishmonkey
Posts: 4478
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:50 am

Re: Playback latency

Post by fishmonkey » Sat Apr 07, 2018 7:01 am

of those three, Ozone is likely to be latency-prone plugin. dig in to the Ozone documentation for ways to minimize latency...

jestermgee
Posts: 4500
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:38 am

Re: Playback latency

Post by jestermgee » Sat Apr 07, 2018 10:09 am

iZotope Ozone 8
That is your issue. Delete it until you need it.

majorjoy
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2009 4:36 am

Re: Playback latency

Post by majorjoy » Fri May 25, 2018 2:16 am

Hi, Interesting post- I have this problem too - Did you get a fix? I'm using Ableton 10 running on new 10 core iMacPro, 64Gb RAM and built-in soundcard with latest version of High Sierra. Ableton 9 with same setup (and using same project) works perfectly and doesn't have this playback latency.

jestermgee
Posts: 4500
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:38 am

Re: Playback latency

Post by jestermgee » Fri May 25, 2018 2:47 am

majorjoy wrote:Hi, Interesting post- I have this problem too - Did you get a fix? I'm using Ableton 10 running on new 10 core iMacPro, 64Gb RAM and built-in soundcard with latest version of High Sierra. Ableton 9 with same setup (and using same project) works perfectly and doesn't have this playback latency.
Have you read the posts through in this thread?

The issue is noted above as being a loaded instance of Izotope Ozone which, due to the fact it has a LOT of overhead for processing, requires additional (substantial) time to work on the audio so creates a large delay. It is recommended to remove it while doing production and only add it in the mixing stage after you do not need to do "real-time" stuff.

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