Hi folks,

another newbie question.

My rig:
  - roland fp-7f keyboard
  - PreSonus audiobox usb
  - thinkpad t440s laptop
  - pianoteq 6

Dump the Audiobox and get a Behringer UMC 202HD.  The PreSonus ASIO drivers are CRAP and PreSonus hasn't addressed the issue.  I have a PreSonus 1818VSL that has never worked well with anything but my older iPad 3, for audio.  I replaced it in my main DAW with a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 (which was about $100 more expensive), and all my ASIO issues went away.  I was using the Behringer with my laptop portable DAW and it performed flawlessly.  You can say what you want to about Behringer, but one thing they did get right was their ASIO drivers.

Changing my laptop to High Performance power mode was a *big* help, but didn't completely solve my problem.  Thanks!

I posted my problem to the GearSlutz forum:
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/newbie-...st13033400

I upgraded the AudioBox USB 96 driver, and the latency problem went away!  I can run at 128 samples with no crackling.

They suggested a tool you guys probably know about: LatencyMon.  It tells you if your computer is up to the task of real time audio (mine is, whew).

I still have the problem of mixing in the backing tracks from the roland.

Best, and happy holidays,
Steve200

Thanks!  I assume u say that about throttling because the reported frequency i show in that screenshot is less than 1.9GHz?

i changed to high performance, and now the freq monitor is pegged at about 1.85ghz

the performance index went up to 83 or so.

it did help... some.... now if i use 512 i only get occasional crackling.  the latency is fine for me, not noticeable.

steve200

Can also disable all sorts of CPU throttling with this program: https://www.techpowerup.com/download/te...ottlestop/

I dropped the buffer size to 256, and jammed around on the keyboard.  Latency gone.  I observed my computers's CPU monitor and PQ's perf monitor.

the CPU monitor never went above around 25%.  The Audio Load showed nasty red lines when i had severe crackling.  i also had less severe crackling with no red lines, just a rise in the meter.

here are screenshots of the PQ perf screen and the Audiobox settings screen:

Steve200

Buffer size is a software thing (driver latency).

the audiobox sample rate goes no higher than 48k.  its bit depth is 32.

I knocked the audiobox buffer size down from 860 to 256 and that fixed the latency, but....

now i am getting unacceptable crackling every once in a while.  back up to 800!  the latency is at least tolerable.

does this mean the Audiobox USB 96 is not up to the task??   

(i am not clear:  the buffer that i am changing the size of, is it in my computer, or in the audiobox?)

also, i noticed that if adjust the audiobox mixer so that it is mixing in its analog audio inputs (with no sound coming in), i hear a significant degradation of the pianoteq.  this really stinks.

i need an interface/mixer that can:
  1) play pianoteq with no latency and no dropouts or crackling
  2) mix in stereo audio backing tracks (produced by my roland fp-7f keyboard), with excellent sound quality in both the backing track and pianoteq

the pianoteq 6 steinway D is beautiful.  i just need to get the dumb electronics working.

thanks,
steve200

thanks very much.

clarification:  the roland is feeding *analog audio* to the Audiobox, which is mixing that with the digital audio from laptop/pianoteq

             roland    -----------------analog audio------------->   audiobox ---> headphones
                 |                                                                                  |             
                 |  -- MIDI -->   laptop/pianoteq ----digital audio/usb-->|

i suppose it is possible the latency is from audiobox D->A converter?

steve200

In any case I don't think that's the issue here, since OP only mentions playing backing tracks from his Roland, NOT its internal piano sounds.

If you are playing Pianoteq and the Roland's sound simultaneously, please make sure they are being played on different MIDI channels, such as Channel #1 vs. #2.  Why?  The midi protocol is a "serial" device, meaning that things "happen" in series, one right after another ... instead of in parallel, meaning one next to another in the same channel.

In the past, I have encountered this "midi echo" condition, and was able to solve the problem by assigning two different sound sources to two different midi channels.

Hope this helps.

Joe

I'm curious with the lowest buffer what latency does pianoteq report, also what's the latency report of the sound card panel, if it displays this info. With the lowest buffer/highest frequency, does the problem still persist?

I also wonder if it's possible to have lower latency than the FP7 and hear an echo because it comes in later than Pianoteq, but that's probably not the case presently.

another newbie question.

My rig:
  - roland fp-7f keyboard
  - PreSonus audiobox usb
  - thinkpad t440s laptop
  - pianoteq 6

i have the roland midi going into the laptop, via usb, and the laptop digital audio output going to the audiobox, via usb.

i also have the right and left channels of the roland going into the audio in of the audiobox.  i do this because the roland has great backing tracks i like to use.

by turning a knob on the roland i can mix down its keyboard audio out, and only hear the backing track, or vice versa.

if i output the roland keyboard sound to the audiobox, as well as the output of pianoteq, and hit a key, i hear a slight echo. 

i think that echo represents the latency of pianoteq compared to the roland.  i'd estimate it is about an 1/8 of a second.

i believe i can feel the latency a wee bit when i am playing, though i seem to get used to it.

but i'd not expect that latency.

i am definitely not very literate in audio signals, either digital or analog, nor midi, so be gentle.

thoughts?

steve200