[Doodles]

Lag is my pet hate when recording via a laptop - I thought it might be a thing of the past with modern processing power? But it recently killed all the fun in my first attempt at recording into Reaper. What tends to be the main cause of this? Is it pure processing power? RAM? The interface? Operating system/competing software/virus?

I'm using a 2.16GHz Celeron with 4GB RAM on Windows 8 (modern, but budget end)... I recently sold my TonePort UX1 interface to fund a Digitech RP360XP multi effects pedal with its own interface. As much as I long to explore MIDI, plugins etc, I find laptops so frustrating and find I really enjoy recording into a loop pedal without a laptop in sight.

Despite all advice to the contrary I'm back to considering buying a pre-amp to give me better level control when recording into my loop pedal. Any advice?

[pompeyjazz]

Hi Doodles. Extremely frustrating I agree. Reaper is pretty resource greedy but the answer for me was a Focusrite Solo audio interface. Just kills all latency issues. The other thing I do to save on processing power in Reaper is to freeze midi tracks into wavs once I'm done with them. This can always be reversed if you need to make some tweaks. There are some guys on here who know much more than I do about this sort of stuff. This works for me though.

Cheers

John

[tone]

Could be all or none of the things you mentioned, Doodles. Here's what I'd do: in your windows control panel, choose the most resource efficient settings (memory saving and power saving features). Then when the time comes to record, unplug all unused devices, and close all unused programs. If you really want to be sure, reboot the computer before you begin.

If you still have lag, you could try reinstalling the audio interface drivers. Always make sure your computer is virus-free, and periodically run malware bytes (anti malware). It's free https://www.malwarebytes.org/ and really good. For best results, run it in safe mode (to do this switch off your computer, then when you switch it back on, tap F8 repeatedly while it's booting until a black screen with a text menu appears. Choose safe mode with the arrow keys and press enter. Then run malwarebytes. When it's finished, reboot.

If you _still_ have lag, post again. I'm pretty sure your system specs should be able to cope with a bit of audio recording.

[Boydie]

By "lag" I am assuming you are referring to "latency" - Ie a delay between playing a note and then hearing it

As TONE has said it could be all sorts of things - fortunately some solutions may be really simple and just a case of changing a setting

I would suggesting working through my suggestions in this thread:

http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=9013.0

[Doodles]

Thanks, sounds like great advice chaps. Yeah it is latency that I meant. I will have a tinker with your suggestions, probably the free ones first. And if I invest in a new interface, it sounds like the Focusrite has been highly recommended more than once. At least I probably don't need to invest in a high spec PC!

[adamfarr]

For me changing the sample settings was helpful to an extent but then changing the audio settings from wavout to ASIO made a huge difference and I can now monitor in effectively real time, which is a game changer. I'll try to find the explanation - I think I got it from the Reaper forum.

[pompeyjazz]

ASIO and audio interface makes ALL the difference

John

[Doodles]

Thanks guys, I'll try that too

[Doodles]

John and Adam, I think that's the route of the problem.

My Digitech pedal can be used as an audio interface, but it only appears under the wavout dropdown, not the ASIO. I need to re-invest in a genuine audio interface and not try to make-do with a guitar pedal!

thanks

Ben

[Boydie]

If I was in the market for a new audio interface I think I would check out the Focusrite Scarlett series, which are fantastic for the money

Just make sure get all of the inputs and outputs you need and you are done!

[ShinyThang]

Completely agree with PompyJazz -  an audio interface (Focusrite in my case) did the trick for me but i think things also improved beforehand when I abandoned Reaper in favour of Mixcraft (yeah you gatta pay for it but when the free stuff gives you issues...). After that I had fewer latency problems though I did find that MC just couldn't cope with large amounts of 'real' analogue tracks smothered in effects. The addition of the Focusrite Scarlet Audio Interface really did mean the end to all problems related to the laptop not being able to cope and left me free to get on with the music. If only I could persuade my impoverished mate to do the same so that he STOPS BLOODY COMPLAINING ABOUT IT!

[Johnnyuk]

Hi,
It could be something as simple as turning off all background programs on your laptop before launching your DAW.
Anti virus programs can eat up memory along with the windows indexing program and others so i would turn those off first to see if that helps with the lag problem.
Johnny

[cowparsleyman]

Hi

Yip I agree with all the others, as much RAM as you can afford. and an SSD might help. Focusrite Scarlett is a reliable buy.

Record without any plugins, that helps too, and get your ASIO buffers set correctly.

cpm

[Mikey]

An audio interface is the best way to go as stated above, I have a Focusrite and it works brilliantly, but in the meantime, try asio4all, it is a free asio driver which may work with your pedal until you can get an interface

http://www.asio4all.org/

Cheers, Mikey

[jacksimmons]

The desktop computer would struggle like hell in the hot weather when I tried to do anything on Cubase, and the laptop I am currently using still begins to chug if I go overboard on tracks and VSTs. Pretty certain that's a CPU problem and DAWs do eat up processing power.

I use the Focusrite Scarlett interface and second/third/quadruple that recommendation. I've found another way to combat lag when recording is to reduce buffer size in your DAW.