Ableton Forum

I'm very new to this and have been searching for hours but can't figure this out. I have a Roland VT4 for vocal input. I'm trying to record over sounds from 2 MIDI channels. If I set preferences to "MME/DirectX" I can hear the MIDI beats through my computer speakers and my voice through monitors (connected to VT4) but my lag is over 200ms, even with reducing the VT4 buffer as low as possible.

If I swap to ASIO then my latency goes way down, but I'm unable to define an audio output separate from the VT4. In ASIO I can't hear the MIDI channels anywhere, through the monitors connected to VT4 or through computer speakers.

How do I either significantly reduce my MME/DirectX latency OR set up my sound output so I can hear the background MIDI while recording vocals?

Thanks for any help you can give.

It seems like you don't have a sound output device other than your computer's motherboard soundcard. This can be too taxing on the CPU and is probably causing the lag. I think you need a USB Audio Interface. I use the Focusrite Scarlett Solo. When you plug it in (USB), it will be selectable in Preferences -> Audio -> Audio Device. From there you can hear Ableton through headphones plugged in to the audio interface, or use the audio interface's Line Outs to a stereo amp + speakers.

Some more info here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9tjzSctp_Q

The ASIO specification only allows one ASIO interface to be used at a time*. So if you select the Roland's ASIO driver in Live's preferences that will be the only audio device Live can access.

Your best solution is to get a USB connected audio interface that has enough inputs and outputs for your needs and has a manufacturer-supplied ASIO driver.

*There are a few exceptions to this, such as RME interfaces, where the interface manufacturer's ASIO driver allows more than one interface to be used so long as it comes from the same manufacturer. And Macs' Core Audio driver model can use more than one interface and provide the lowest latency possible for the combination at the same time.