Poesque
Active Member
New Apollo user here. I am using a Firewire connection to an approved card on a Windows 7 PC with Cubase 8 as my DAW. I have just started testing and dabbling at this point but I have encountered a latency issue which will be a huge disappointment if it is not resolved.
The issue is when I try to utilize the DAW for monitoring. I am running at a Sample Rate of 44.1 kHz and a Buffer Size of 64. I started working from these as that it was I have successfully worked from with my Saffire Pro 40 units (Firewire 400) in combination with my UAD Octo card. In that scenario I would get an Input Latency of 1.837 msec, Output Latency of 3.583 mses and UAD-2 Plugin Latency of 1.45 msec (64 samples). With the same settings/plugins on the Apollo, I am now getting a UAD-2 Plugin Latency of 11.61 msec (512 Samples). Strangely, if I set the Saffire unit as the audio device in Cubase it will only revert to the 64 Sample UAD-2 Plugin Latency with the Apollo turned off. Note that I am not attempting to use oversampled plugins such as the Ampex, as these have always bumped the latency. I also muted all channels within Console and closed the application.
This is very important to me due to the use of VST instruments within my workflow, as well as the desire to retain the ability to track through the DAW with various UAD and native plugins without significant latency. The net latency with the Saffire units was 6.870 (including input/output/UAD2. With the Apollo it is now 17.03, which is two and half times as long and not feasible for live tracking of vocals, instruments or virtual instruments. I recall seeing something regarding Virtual Outputs in the Apollo software manual which may sidestep this for virtual instruments, but it seemed like a cumbersome fix and not applicable to audio sources.
I assume this may be due to the fact that the Plugin Latency is factoring in utilization of Apollo DSP power, which requires the signal to go to the Apollo, through DSP processing, back to the DAW and back again to the Apollo for monitoring. If this is the case, can I block the Apollo DSP resources while DAW tracking and use it as an audio device only? Otherwise, relative to my needs and workflow I might have invested in two silver bricks, as the features gained may not actually weigh up too well against the performance losses. :sad:
The issue is when I try to utilize the DAW for monitoring. I am running at a Sample Rate of 44.1 kHz and a Buffer Size of 64. I started working from these as that it was I have successfully worked from with my Saffire Pro 40 units (Firewire 400) in combination with my UAD Octo card. In that scenario I would get an Input Latency of 1.837 msec, Output Latency of 3.583 mses and UAD-2 Plugin Latency of 1.45 msec (64 samples). With the same settings/plugins on the Apollo, I am now getting a UAD-2 Plugin Latency of 11.61 msec (512 Samples). Strangely, if I set the Saffire unit as the audio device in Cubase it will only revert to the 64 Sample UAD-2 Plugin Latency with the Apollo turned off. Note that I am not attempting to use oversampled plugins such as the Ampex, as these have always bumped the latency. I also muted all channels within Console and closed the application.
This is very important to me due to the use of VST instruments within my workflow, as well as the desire to retain the ability to track through the DAW with various UAD and native plugins without significant latency. The net latency with the Saffire units was 6.870 (including input/output/UAD2. With the Apollo it is now 17.03, which is two and half times as long and not feasible for live tracking of vocals, instruments or virtual instruments. I recall seeing something regarding Virtual Outputs in the Apollo software manual which may sidestep this for virtual instruments, but it seemed like a cumbersome fix and not applicable to audio sources.
I assume this may be due to the fact that the Plugin Latency is factoring in utilization of Apollo DSP power, which requires the signal to go to the Apollo, through DSP processing, back to the DAW and back again to the Apollo for monitoring. If this is the case, can I block the Apollo DSP resources while DAW tracking and use it as an audio device only? Otherwise, relative to my needs and workflow I might have invested in two silver bricks, as the features gained may not actually weigh up too well against the performance losses. :sad:
