Ableton PDC & Playhead Lag

Discussion in 'Live' started by OraMorph, Mar 17, 2020.

  1. OraMorph

    OraMorph Ultrasonic

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    When i have ONE track in a project with a high latency plugin in it, the playhead plays and the sound lags behind it...

    Why doesn't this work like it does in every other DAW? ie, there's a pause after clicking play and the playhead and sound are in sync?

    freezing the track or disabling the plugin doesn't change anything
     
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  3. OraMorph

    OraMorph Ultrasonic

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    Its pretty much unusable in this state.
     
  4. OraMorph

    OraMorph Ultrasonic

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    100 views...Does anyone get this deep into it or is this subforum just for install problems?
     
  5. DJ_Em_Be

    DJ_Em_Be Newbie

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    What you are referencing (PDC means plugin delay compensation) is a rare occurrence, however is referenced. My advice would be to comp (as in compose) with minimal latency settings, especially setting the sample rate down. Comping in 32 or even 22k kills a lot of latency on my low spec units. cheers!

    16.5 Device Delay Compensation
    Live automatically compensates for delays caused by Live and plug-in instruments and
    effects, including those on the return tracks. These delays can arise from the time taken by
    devices to process an input signal and output a result. The compensation algorithm keeps
    Live’s tracks in sync while minimizing delay between the player’s actions and the audible
    result.

    CHAPTER 16. WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 229
    Note: there are a few situations in which Live cannot compensate for plug-in delay:
    • Automation is not delay compensated. As a result, when using automation on tracks
    that contain devices that cause delays, the automation may sound early.

    • Tempo-synced effects and other devices that get timing information from Live’s internal
    clock may sound out of sync if they are placed in a device chain after devices which
    cause delay.
    Device delay compensation is on by default and does not normally have to be adjusted
    in any way. However, Live Sets that were created with Live 4 or earlier will open without
    device delay compensation. To manually turn latency compensation on (or off), use the
    Delay Compensation option in the Options menu.
    Unusually high individual track delays or reported latencies from plug-ins may cause noticeable
    sluggishness in the software. If you are having latency-related difculties while
    recording and playing back instruments, you may want to try turning off device delay compensation,
    however this is not normally recommended. You may also nd that adjusting the
    individual track delays is useful in these cases, but please note that the Track Delay controls
    are unavailable when device delay compensation is deactivated.
    Note that device delay compensation can, depending on the number of tracks and devices
    in use, increase the CPU load.
     
  6. reliefsan

    reliefsan Audiosexual

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  7. angie

    angie Producer

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    The page Delay Compensation FAQ in the online manual explains it all
     
  8. OraMorph

    OraMorph Ultrasonic

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    Yes i am referring to PDC, its vital to every DAW, timing is everything..

    So you tell me not to use the high latency plugins?.. what kind of advice is that! i told you that other DAWS handle it well, ableton is a "live performance" software they say, that means that their coders are not very good or fast, and they have written PDC that sucks ass (compared to most other DAWs)
     
  9. OraMorph

    OraMorph Ultrasonic

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    buffersize change doesnt affect it.. its a problem where latency is being compensated for but the GUI doesnt sync (because there is no pause between pressing play and the audio starting= exactly what cubase would do so that everything runs in time and in sync)
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2020
  10. OraMorph

    OraMorph Ultrasonic

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    Which elements in Live are not subject to delay compensation?
    1. Graphics Elements are not compensated
      Level meters, video playback and other graphic elements might be displayed slightly ahead of time with respect to the audio.
    2. :woot::woot::woot::woot::woot::woot:
    3. Thank god i didnt pay for this shiet!
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2020
  11. OraMorph

    OraMorph Ultrasonic

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    ....So, what its basically saying is: "it cant stay in sync":rofl::rofl:

    Great solution.

    PLease tell me wtf you would do with a DAW that does not compensate "graphic elements"?..

    What else am i supposed to navigate the software with if not its graphics? Psychokinesis powers?!?!..



    [​IMG]
    .
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2020
  12. No Avenger

    No Avenger Moderator Staff Member

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    Since a plugin's latency is calculated in samples not ms, it's the other way around.
    A latency of 44100 samples would result in 1sec at 44100kHz sampling rate but only in 0,5secs at 88200kHz.

    A Daw without any PDC wouldn't work properly and therefore latency is pretty common, but DAWs handle plugins differently.
     
  13. angie

    angie Producer

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    yes ... basically when you hit play the graphics engine start, the cursor moves but the sound comes, in sync, after the time corresponding to the plugin with the maximum buffer size (I seem to have understood it this way).
     
  14. OraMorph

    OraMorph Ultrasonic

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    Why doesnt the graphics engine wait for the audio buffer then?
     
  15. No Avenger

    No Avenger Moderator Staff Member

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    Two different processes. The GPU and the soundcard are workíng on their own. I'm not sure if it's even possible to sync them. But I agree, this could be handy.
     
  16. OraMorph

    OraMorph Ultrasonic

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    Two different threads of the same job, of course they should be synced. this makes logical sense to me sorry

    I just dont know why ableton cant get them to!

    & I dont know any other daw that cant handle this
     
  17. DJ_Em_Be

    DJ_Em_Be Newbie

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    I forgot to mention the calibration options available.

    Under the options tab, there are three selections: External sync, delay compensation, and reduced latency when monitoring.

    I feel like track delay would solve this problem.

    You can go to View/track delay which enables track delay per channel. It defaults to ms but if you click the yellow ms box it will switch to samples which I believe is more precise.

    There is also the latency section under the audio tab of the preference, but I'm guessing you tried that already.
     
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