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440 Forums _ Getting Started _ Need Help With Lag

Posted by: tburn Tue 16 Mar 2010, 22:39

Hi, idk really where to post this so im sorry if this is the wrong place. But I have a mac, and I run GarageBand and Ableton live. When I play via my midi keyboard connected through the usb hub, its fine. But when I plug in my guitar through the jack next to the headphone jack, it lags pretty bad. Same thing when I run my synth through that jack. How can I take the sound from my hardware synth and guitar into my DAW's without lag? Like what exactly do I need to buy, as cheap as possible haha

Thanks,
Tyler

Posted by: kayj_prod Thu 18 Mar 2010, 07:59

We could do with knowing a bit more about the spec of your Mac as this could be the biggest impact on lag.
A few things to try though: make sure GarageBand is the only app running while you record and also turn off wireless and bluetooth. (Wireless is a known cause of problems with GB and Logic.) If you're using a MacBook/Pro, plug in or check your power settings allow max CPU if on battery.

Just a little pointer that you shouldn't really plug your guitar straight into the mic/line input as there is an impedence mismatch. You won't get the best sound this way and could end up damaging equipment. (Synth is ok as it is line-level.)

Posted by: Will2009 Thu 18 Mar 2010, 13:25

what interface are you using? If you are not using one, I would suggest that you start here..

Posted by: tonester Thu 18 Mar 2010, 13:53

That "lag" you speak of is what is know as "latency" in the computer audio world, and is inherent in all computer audio systems.It is the time it takes the sound to go from your guitar through the input to the DAW and back out to you. There is only a minimal MIDI "lag", because you are not technically dealing with audio, and chances are you would never even notice it. While you can't really get rid of audio latency altogether, you can take steps to minimize it to where it is almost not discernible to the human ear.

You say you are using the built-in input of the mac, correct? Try opening the audio/midi setup (found under utilities) and playing around with the buffer settings under the input section. I think the default is 512. You can try decreasing it to 256. Increasing it will cause further lag. Any lower than 256, and chances are your system will grind to a halt, depending on how much RAM you have installed.

Which brings me to my next point: if you would rather just use the Mac's built in audio input, try increasing your RAM.

There are a lot of inexpensive Audio interfaces on the market. It all depends on your budget and your system (which you haven't given any specs for)

it helps to list the specs for your system. Is it an iMac or a Mac pro? Processor speed? RAM?

Hope this helps......

Posted by: moptzar Thu 18 Mar 2010, 15:29

Yo Tyler,
http://nav.440network.com/out.php?mmsc=forums&url=http://store.apple.com/us/product/TX532ZM/A?afid=p210%7Cfrgl&cid=AOS-US-SHOP-Froogle

it's the iMic usb audio system.
like 30 bucks.
√ it out.

Posted by: tburn Sun 4 Apr 2010, 21:24

Ahh, I see. Let me tell you what my specs are:

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MB51.0073.B06

Everytime I open Ableton it freezes up after a few tracks, I figure I need to clean my Mac up. If I clear up some of the HD, do you think that this mac can be used for serious audio production? Or do I need to upgrade to a MBP?

Posted by: houstonmusic Mon 5 Apr 2010, 16:44

clean this machine up and it should be adequate. i ran Live and Reason for a few years on one that's just the same.
good luck.

Posted by: d3i Tue 6 Apr 2010, 05:46

Hi, Guys!

You know... I don't know... but for that kind of things I'm usually use iTool {if I trash the files} or Onyx...

at the start I liked Onyx, but later some kind of things are better in iTool... I don't care, I'm a women... it's probably INTUITION, what You use for maintenance the system...

BUT PLEASE!!!! NEVER SEND BUGs to APPLE, if they ARE from 3 part of software...

IF YOU ARE USUNG APPLE.inc software - YOU ARE WELCOM!!!

that's what i wanted to tell TODAY

Diana

Posted by: d3i Wed 7 Apr 2010, 04:56

Letters are not case-sensitive.

We're sorry, but the system has encountered an unknown error, and you have been logged out.
To continue using My Info, please log in again.
Thank you for your understanding.

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something like THAT IT IS LOVE!!!!

if someone don't understand??? F..ck OFF