Sound latency in live monitoring (with video)

[MillKa]

1)
In your screenshot of PowerMixer, many nodes are missing.

In PowerMixer, open the Options and go to the System page.
Check/turn on these options:
- Show disabled devices
- Show disconnected devices

Now the Options / Control page should show more. Please post a screen shot.


2)
In Windows Sound Control Panel, go to the Recording devices page.
Right click the device list and make sure, that the options
- Show disabled devices
- Show disconnected devices
are on.
Now go to the Playback devices page.
Again, right click the device list and make sure, that the options
- Show disabled devices
- Show disconnected devices
are on.
Select and set the Audigy's analog Speaker / Headphone output (green jack) as default playback device.
Now click the Properties button.
On the Properties window of that output, got to the Levels page.
There should be one slider at the top.
If the Audigy supports direct monitoring, there should be more devices listed below.
Please post a screenshot.

 

[Art Howard]

1)
In your screenshot of PowerMixer, many nodes are missing.

In PowerMixer, open the Options and go to the System page.
Check/turn on these options:
- Show disabled devices
- Show disconnected devices

Now the Options / Control page should show more. Please post a screen shot.

2)
In Windows Sound Control Panel, go to the Recording devices page.
Right click the device list and make sure, that the options
- Show disabled devices
- Show disconnected devices
are on.
Now go to the Playback devices page.
Again, right click the device list and make sure, that the options
- Show disabled devices
- Show disconnected devices
are on.

Select and set the Audigy's analog Speaker / Headphone output (green jack) as default playback device.
Now click the Properties button.
On the Properties window of that output, got to the Levels page.
There should be one slider at the top.
If the Audigy supports direct monitoring, there should be more devices listed below.
Please post a screenshot.

Unfortunately, none of this changed anything. I still don't hear anything from the Line In unless I click "Listen to This Device."

The fact is Microsoft has made horrible products starting with Vista, but they've got us all by the short and curlies, so they don't care. Tonight I also had tickets to a comedy show, but found that although Windows 8.1 sees my printer, it won't print my tickets. Guess as well as an extra $150 to do audio, I now have to sink another $100-$200 to print. Big problem for me, big laugh for Microsoft.

Thanks for trying, anyway.

 

[MillKa]

Hi Art,

lots of screenshots ..

About your screenshot 1 (PowerMixer)

The node "SoundBlaster Audigy FX" has four sub-nodes, one Recording and three Playback.
There are two sub-sub-nodes "Line In", one under the Recording sub-node and one under the third Playback sub-node.

The LineIn under Recording is routed to any sound recording application and can only be heard in that recording application.

The other LineIn under Playback should be the one for (direct, delay-free) monitoring without a recording application running.
However, there is an X in front of that LineIn sub-sub-node and the corresponding Playback sub-node.

Select the Playback sub-node (with the LineIn sub-sub-node below).
PowerMixer should now show the corresponding mixer stripe with three elements: a Balance slider, a Volume slider and a mute checkbox.
Are all three elements accessible, or are some grayed out ? Which ?

The X in front of the Playback sub-node means it is muted. The mute check box in the mixer stripe should be displayed as checked (= muted).
If the mute check box in the mixer stripe is not grayed out, click it to uncheck (un-mute) the Playback sub-node.

Now select the LineIn sub-sub-node (below the Playback sub-node).
Again, PowerMixer should now show the corresponding mixer stripe with three elements: a Balance slider, a Volume slider and a mute checkbox.
Are all three elements accessible, or are some grayed out ? Which ?

The X in front of the LineIn sub-sub-node means it is muted. The mute check box in the mixer stripe should be displayed as checked (= muted).
If the mute check box in the mixer stripe is not grayed out, click it to uncheck (un-mute) the LineIn sub-sub-node.

If not grayed out, check the volume slider of both nodes.

Do you hear something now ?


I am still not completely happy how PowerMixer displays the Audigy:
- the black and orange outputs are missing
- there are two Mic inputs, but the Audigy has only one
- each input sub-sub-node has its own Playback sub-node, but there should be just one Playback sub-node with all input sub-sub-nodes below.
However, PowerMixer simply queries the audio cards driver about its capabilities and displays what it gets ..
Maybe there is some error in the driver, or maybe the Audigy is actually implemented as displayed ..

Do you have the latest Audigy drivers already installed ? (Dec 20th, 2013)


The on-board audio chip is not even shown as disabled.
- Does the on-board audio chip disable itself, when an audio card is installed ?
- Or did you have to disable the on-board audio chip manually in the BIOS ?


About screenshot #2 (Windows Sound Control Panel - Recording page)
The FocusRite Scarlett is disabled ? Why/how ?


About screenshot #4 (Windows Sound Control Panel - Playback page - Speakers Properties - Levels page)
If you could un-mute the Playback sub-node and the LineIn sub-sub-node (see steps above), does the Levels page now show more sub-nodes ?

 

[Art Howard]

Anything that has a blue X in front of it shows as greyed out when added as a volume slider to the desk. They cannot be changed to green check marks. Maybe these options exist somewhere, but they're greyed out so the user can't get to them.

The IDT CODEC disables itself when the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy FX is inserted.

 

[Eggz]

Art,

I have almost the same audio setup as you and the same problem. I'm running some SM58s to my computer through a Mackie 12-channel mixer. I've tried both the line-in and microphone input without luck. Have you solved this? I'm a major nerd about both audio and computers, and it seems like we're just missing an "analog only" option to minimize lag from Microsoft's slow in-software DAC. Hardware DACs can pass through in real time, which confuses me about why this is an issue on my hardware (computer has more than $4,000 in high end hardware - all less than a year old). The CPU and audio chip (whether onboard or in an add-on card) are totally fast enough to avoid this lag, so my guess is that Windows has set a delay to some fixed time interval (e.g. 0.125 seconds or something) because the delay in your video is exactly as much as mine, and my computer costs eight times more. So annoying! If I find anything, I'll post it, but please share if you found a fix.

Thanks

-Eggz

 

[Art Howard]

Hello, Eggz:

My only recourse was to spend another $150 for a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB interface. It took care of the problem, but I was really distressed to have to go spend another $150 after I had just spent over $500 for a new computer. My Dad bought a Zenith stereo in 1981 that I could plug a couple of mics into and record and monitor myself in real time! Of course I know that was analog and this is digital, but I was also doing this with Windows 98 and Windows ME. How can Microsoft not know that if we see mic and line inputs, we expect to be able to hear that input in real time? And this has been present in 7, 8 and 8.1, so it doesn't seem like they're interested in fixing it.

Then there's the lack of the Start bar and the tiles thing.

 

[robfitzz123]

Art, thank you for this post! The simple task ofrecording a live voice and guitar without latency has eluded Windows 8.1. I am back to squareone recording my guitar and vocals on a hand held cheap recorder I could havepurchased in 1970.

My XP machine seemed to work fine, and I've tried it all. Lots of bad advice on the web, but I'm going to try the focus right for now.

When plugging a microphone or instrument into the mic/line input of my new Windows 8.1 computer, there is a 1/8 or 1/16 note lag in the sound coming through my desktop speakers/headphones. Recording is fine, I'm talking about live monitoring.

I've used an XP computer for several years to record multi-track music, and also to record Skype conversations for a podcast. My mixer has always been plugged into the line in of the factory sound card, and monitored either with my desktop speakers or by plugging headphones into the desktop speakers, no problem.

Now I've been forced to upgrade to Windows 8.1, and the basic function of plugging a mic into an input jack and hearing myself doesn't work. This goes for analog and USB gear. There are HUNDREDS of pages on the Internet about this, since Windows 7, with no solutions.

Here is a video I made detailing the problem, and demonstrating how any proposed fix (update drivers, use the sound card software, try USB, use high performance power settings) hasn't worked.

If this can't be fixed in the next couple of days, this thing is going back to Best Buy!

[video=youtube;d7sc-kl7bf0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7sc-kl7bf0[/video]