Disabling Input Driver with Windows/ASIO

[wrth]

I recently switched from Mac to Windows to get a faster computer with more RAM with the goal of being able to reduce my buffer size / latency in Live.

However now that I'm using the ASIO driver, I no longer have the option in Live to disable the input device. Instead of unique input/output devices as with Mac, I now have just one device option, and cannot eliminate the input devices 9ms of latency.

Does anyone know how to disable the input device to reduce the latency? I'd be much obliged for any advice...have looked extensively with no luck before arriving here.

[lfm]

I can't say I get your reasoning with disabling input device?
Aren't you going to use any audio inputs?
And if you are not using the inputs - how is it affecting your work?

On a track in daw you usually enable audio input when you either activate record or monitor on a track input - otherwise it is disabled by default, kind of.

Audio interface and it's drivers are more influencial on which latency you can run on than how strong the computer is - interface sets the bar how low you can go.

But a stronger computer influence how large the project can be before you get pops and crackles with a certain buffer size - and you have to start freezing tracks/instruments first. But maybe I still don't get your issue.

Anyway, on windows you have Sounds settings with drivers/devices - but that does not normally include ASIO stuff for daws. Those are mostly for using media player and similar. Interface usually have drivers for MME, DirectSound and similar as well.

Daws can use Windows settings, but usually with very poor latency results. So normally in daw you select ASIO device and which ins/outs you want to use on that device and size of buffer to use.

Different brands of interface have different ways to specify buffers. Some have straight up a buffer size, and others need to select a range/mode for interface to run in low latency, medium or high etc. Then you set buffer size within that mode of settings.

[Jim Y]

While I have, long ago, encountered a buggy interface driver that played back fine only if whatever used it didn't have access to its inputs - which maybe proves that a selected device inputs are always "open" and do stream audio input even if the app isn't using or storing the stream (the data in the input buffer simply dies of neglect). Input and output data streams are usually interleaved by the driver. That is, all channels are always handling data. So an 8in8out interface is passing a total 16 channels of audio data even if the app is only using 2 of them for an output pair.

It's been years since I tried Ableton, so I've no idea why removing the input devices might help. In DAW apps I have used, I have disabled unused hardware channels in or out otherwise track settings in new projects don't match what I may want the tracks for - because some DAW programs think its helpful to set up new tracks with input/output device automatically chosen. Disabling was done in the apps hardware settings/options menu.

[wrth]

Thanks for the replies. Yes I am not using any of the inputs and I've disabled them in Live and in the DAW. But when you do this on a Mac, you can see Ableton's calculated/projected latency go down because the input latency is eliminated. On a PC using ASIO driver, that input latency remains projected no matter what you do, which increases the total latency that Ableton projects. Do you think Ableton's projection is not to be trusted and that I should be performing w/out any input latency if I'm not going through any inputs, even if Live says the total latency includes an input latency?

[pottering]

ASIO drivers have their own setup, accessed through "Hardware Setup".
ASIO drivers from different sources can have different options (like different minimum buffer size).
If your version of ASIO doesn't have a option to disable the input then there is nothing you can do really (besides asking the devs to add the option).

[lfm]

Thanks for the replies. Yes I am not using any of the inputs and I've disabled them in Live and in the DAW. But when you do this on a Mac, you can see Ableton's calculated/projected latency go down because the input latency is eliminated. On a PC using ASIO driver, that input latency remains projected no matter what you do, which increases the total latency that Ableton projects. Do you think Ableton's projection is not to be trusted and that I should be performing w/out any input latency if I'm not going through any inputs, even if Live says the total latency includes an input latency?

OK, so what you are saying - if you record on Mac with core audio driver - it is smart enough to know if you record midi only, daw only have to adjust clip position to output buffer latency - since that is what you listen to, not roundtrip latency?

My reference below is for Cubase, don't know Ableton.

I might think this is up to daw how to do it?
Some daws have Constrain Latency or similar function - but not sure about if ASIO buffers are disregarded fully as well as plugins.

Some daws have a delay setting on each track - so once calibrated, manually by you, you can insert a known delay so your recording lines up with grid. So when recording midi you know what delay to insert.

I did my own calibration by making a loopback on midi - and played back one midi track and recorded to two other tracks - and see if they line up. So one recorded track have the ASIO Latency compensation on, the other track off. Then you can see what latency is used, roundtrip or just output buffers.

If unsure - do the same with one audio track input active for recording and see if different than with no audio active.

Just a few ideas...