KVR Audio

intRsoul · Post by **intRsoul** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 5:51 am

Hi guys - it's been a while...
I recently tried NI's new (phenomenal) Guitar Rig demo and, to my dismay, the lowest latency I could get from my Waveterminal 2496 (under XP) is 46 ms. Now for most applications, 46ms is fine but you really need around 10 to direct monitor a live instrument. As I understand it, the WT 2496 can run at 3ms(!) with Cubase SX 2/ASIO 2.0 (which I'm running). I installed the latest drivers form EgoSys and turned off all miscellaneous processes and still nothing under 46.

I guess what really bugs me is that whenever I try to select any latency size other than 1024 samples from the Waveterminal control panel, I get a "Latency change failed - please STOP and CLOSE all audio applications" error even though I'm not running any other apps. Has anyone run into this before? (WT or other card) Do I need to disable/uninstall any video or audio codecs? I googled this error with no luck...

I should point out I've tried the "set processor priority to background" trick I've read on a few posts - no luck. The only other thing I've seen is something to do with updating your motherboard bios (!), though I'm pretty sure I have the latest bios. A bios setting perhaps?

Home-built P4 2.6GHz 800MHz fsb
Asus P4P800 Deluxe
512 3200 speed RAM (samsung...not the best)
2 80GB 10kRPM drives (1 Maxtor, 1 Seagate)
old Matrox G400 32MB video card (saving for a 6800!)

any potential issues with RAM or older video cards?

Many many thanks in advance - be sure to check out Guitar Rig...sounds better than my real Marshall!

intRsoul · Post by **intRsoul** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 4:49 pm

If any Waveterminal users could post what latency you have, whether you've encountered the "can't change latency/buffer" error, and any complications with XP I'd appreciate it.

cheers

ew · Post by ew » Sat Jul 10, 2004 5:26 pm

I'm not a Cubase user,so I could be off base,but this would be my guess...does Cubase have an option to share the ASIO driver with another program?(Or any other hosting software that you're using for that matter...)If so,enable it.Sounds like Cubase or another host keeps the ASIO driver even when not in use.
ew

wgreenlee1 · Post by **wgreenlee1** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 7:18 pm

There is a way you can download the Cubase Demo and use the driver from that.
Thats what Im doing until I get my ASIO4ALL fixed.

7XL · Post by **7XL** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 7:40 pm

I would be investigating why you have 46ms of latency in the first place. On my "old" PIII I get 7ms of latency with a Pulsar II and 5 with a Gina24.I won't even tell you what I get with my P4. I would look into potential issues with the WT 2496 first. You may want to change the slot that it's in to see if there are and IRQ sharing issues, although there shouldn't be any.

You may want to "shop grift" a card from your local Guitar Center to see if the issue is with your card first.

BTW, shop grift = buy something, use it for it's intended purpose for a short while, repackage it with all the original parts and return it for a full refund. Good at GC and Fry's and a few other large mass retailers

MelodyMan · Post by **MelodyMan** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:44 pm

Never any problems with my Waveterminal 192x. Latency 5,8 ms at 44.1 khz and solid as a rock.

intRsoul · Post by **intRsoul** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 2:07 am

Thanks for the replies - I'll try a few as soon as I have a chance. I wanted to add one more 'wrinkle' - my card is the first version of the WT 2496 with the original chipset (which wasn't compatible with Mac OS). Anyone else have this early version?

I've heard many raves over Waveterminal cards, but I've always had little driver issues like clicks n pops (at any buffer size), random freezes and control panel quirkiness - It's certainly never fealt 'rock solid' (on 3 different pc's, for what it's worth). I suppose I've had it too long to have it serviced under warranty. Now I'm saving for a RME Hammerfall firewire box

SecondSkin · Post by **SecondSkin** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 2:31 am

To change ASIO properties for ESI cards, all running asio apps have to be closed. It sounds to me like Cubase is "grabbing" the ASIO device at boot-up and not letting go of it (even when Cubase is not running) in order to change settings. I know logic used to do this, so it wouldn't surprise me if Cubase did also. I would think there is a setting somewhere in Cubase to change this, however.

My WT192L has run under 2ms (WDM or ASIO) for nearly 3 years, though it is having a disagreement with my machine right now...

intRsoul · Post by **intRsoul** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 3:35 am

Many thanks to all who replied, but it was Second Skin's comment that did the trick. I restarted my machine and opened Task Manager - one by one I started shutting off non-essential processes...QT, Winamp, etc. I noticed something called "MaxSound", which is the driver/control panel for the ON-BOARD audio chipset of my Asus P4P800 (which I swear I uninstalled!) Once I shut that off, I was rewarded with a crystal clear 2ms of latency under ASIO.

Cheers and thanks again - to reiterate, NI Guitar Rig is nothing short of miraculous. Even if you're a novice guitarist, this is huge educational tool, demo-ing all the great amps of pop/rock/blues legend, and all the classic effects pedals, speaker cabinets, etc. Kudos to NI (again).

Stupid American Pig · Mon Jul 12, 2004 11:31 am

It really is a pretty damn good amp sim. I dont have much experience with anything other that Revalver, and my brothers Genesis(similar to pod, made by digitech) I would say that in most regards it sounds as good as the genesis, and much better than Revalver. I had a go with my Rhodes running through it, and had more fun playing that thing- it was like a brand new instrument. I really REALLY wish that NI didnt force me to buy a cheap pedal, I think that for that reason alone, I will prolly still get something hardware...

intRsoul · Post by **intRsoul** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 5:26 am

S_A_P wrote: I really REALLY wish that NI didnt force me to buy a cheap pedal, I think that for that reason alone, I will prolly still get something hardware...

I was thinking the same thing - why would a software company force you to buy a non-essential piece of hardware with their product? Granted, just about everything NI does is top-notch so I imagine the pedal board is more solid than it looks in the photos. I think they'll do a "Lite" or non-hardware release of Guitar Rig at some point. Like a lot of folks, I have a MIDI foot controller that can handle most of what their board can do, so it's a redundant purchase...

Also on my "wish list" would be the ability to position the mics at any angle/distance in 3D space, vs. the 4 or 5 presets they have now (though I image that would be a b!tch to program!)

NI Guitar Rig, WT 2496 WinXP latency