How to deal with latency issues when using computers with your eDrums

Latency is aways an issue when you first begin to use computers within your set up. Here I discuss some of the key factors to consider when setting up your electronic drums with a computer so you can get the best results and are able to play comfortably.

[@thedpsemporiumofdrumtracks5648]

Super helpful video. I use Ableton Live Lite 11 since it came free with my Focusrite 2i2 interface and playing my Alesis Nitro ekit into that DAW has been great. Just got EZD2 as well, so understanding of latency issues has become even more important.

[@stephenrix4883]

Thanks for the great instruction. So easy to understand. I've been struggling for weeks trying to resolve latency issues. Still have a bit to go, but you've been very helpful.

[@ou4290]

Thaks for the info brother! This helps so much!

[@GeometrikMind]

Thank you so much!

[@str1897]

very useful video, thanks!

[@jamescarrigan1730]

Great video.

[@bid111]

James Carrigan thank you 🙏🏻

[@jamescarrigan1730]

@@bid111 Just got sd3 last week and this is a great starting point.

[@bid111]

James Carrigan that’s great to hear! Glad it’s been of help. 😊

[@MrBeen992]

Great tutorial. My problem is not necessarily reducing latency. I can increase/decrease the buffer size to a manageable latency that I feel comfortable playing. I can play to some vst instrument tracks and feel on time. But after ending the recording it doesnt play as I feel it when I recorded it. I am using Cubase 5.1.2. If I see the midi notes they seem ahead of the beat most of the time. Do you quantize your playing after recording ?

[@bid111]

Hi Johnny, I'm not too familiar with Cubase as I don't use it however they all work in similar ways. Here's a good article which may help you resolve your issue. musicianshq.com/midi-keyboard-delay-8-possible-causes-and-solutions/ Let me know how you get on!

[@MrBeen992]

@@bid111 Thanks, man !

[@bid111]

@@MrBeen992 you’re welcome. I hope it helps out.

[@MrBeen992]

@@bid111 Well I read the article and I have done most of that: using ASIO drivers, reducing audio buffer size, sample rate has always been 44.1 or 48 kHz. I dont remember disabling audio in, but I am not recording audio when midi drum recording.

[@rileyortman1872]

im having this exact same problem in fl studio 20, did you find a solution? i feel like what im hearing in my headphones vs what is played back is super off

[@nannosi]

Great video, thank you for your thorough explanation. I was wondering what specs are optimal for good latency? I have e-drums (DTxpress II Yamaha) and I'm running EZDrummer with it to get nice sounds. I am able to get the latency down to 12 but it is still not good enough. PC specs: Laptop i5-8265U CPU @1,6Ghz (8 CPUs) RAM: 16GB. SSD 164GB. Thank you!

[@bid111]

Ninos Stifanos hi Ninos, I personally don’t think there is an optimal setting as each persons set up is different but I do know by bringing the buffer size of your DAW down you shouldn’t be able to notice any latency issues. Of course this will also depend on the interface you are using too. I can comfortably drop mine to Buffer Size 64 and it feels great triggering Addictive Drums, Ableton, Kontakt, infact anything.

[@jasonhoumusic]

The real problem is actually the transfer rate of MIDI, which is very slow and you can do nothing about it. Even just a simple Note-On message takes about 1ms to transfer to your DAW. Software instruments also cause jitter when receiving live MIDI input, the jitter can cause variable delay as long as your output buffer size. So reducing buffer size to the minimum possible is the best way.

[@matthorndrums]

I have an insane computer, but ableton only allows me to to get down to a sample size of 256.

[@bid111]

Hi Matt, when you say you have an insane computer? Is it insane in a good way?And are you adjusting the buffer size found in the Ableton preferences?

[@matthorndrums]

@@bid111 yeah I mean it’s a work horse. I edit 4K video, stream at 1080p while playing video games with maxed out graphics. It doesn’t ever break a sweat, but for some reason Ableton doesn’t have a drop down menu like you do for buffer size. It only has a slider, and the furthest it will go down is 256 samples. Could be that I’m on PC and unlike Mac It uses ASIO as opposed to Core Audio as a driver. I’m not sure what to do. Can’t find answers anywhere.

[@bid111]

​@@matthorndrums Ok...well it seems as though there shouldn't be any problems at all! I would hazard a guess that it will be down to the ASIO soundcard which I presume is just standard with the computer?

[@toolmainia102]

Hey I use Ableton too Don’t adjust buffer size in Ableton. Do it on your interface control. Im using a Focusrite 4i4. I adjusted the 4i4’s buffer size via the Focusrite control panel and that changed the buffer size of Ableton. I’m not a tech expert by any means, but when you’re running ASIO, by my understanding the actual interface acts as your audio engine controller.

[@toolmainia102]

With a beast of a computer like that, there are still specs to watch for. If using a hard disk, you’ll probably want to switch the load of audio files to RAM instead of disk. CPU speed isn’t inherently important w DAWs, as long as it’s a Core i5 or better. I prefer intel to AMD for DAWs, but only specific processors. Intel processors with 8 cores like the 10th gen i5s are great because they can handle a fair amount of Plug Ins as well as heavy track loads. AMDs are good for heavy plugin use because they have the multiple core processing as standard. Intels, however, are really phenomenal at handling track and channel loads, but don’t come standard w 8+ cores generally, so they take a hit with plugins. Lots of 10th gen intels I think are a nice balance of higher core count but maintaining its heavy single-task load capabilities. Having a good Sound Card over a Graphics Card is important, however, you can get by with what’s standard in most PCs. Arguably, RAM, Disk Speed, and CPU performance are the greatest impacts on a DAW for what us home musicians and producers do. 16 GB of DDR4 is ideal An SSD And a good CPU Intel vs AMD really depends on your usage and what you need more. But if you’re doing 4K shit, your PC will probably handle DAWs easily. If you aren’t using an interface, I’d strongly recommend getting a simple one such as a 2i2. Focusrite Scarletts are cheap and effective Using USB mics and such w the built in driver of the PC is going to be Blargle tbh

[@jasonwright4144]

Well I did all those things in a new empty project in reaper but as soon as I tried to record drums to a song I'm working on there was too much latency to play. I just bought an alesis nitro mesh kit to trigger slate drums plugin but I didn't know I was gonna run into such an issue here. Any suggestions?

[@moisessinbata8014]

maybe you have many vst in your song causing latency, try to render the song, open a new project with this song and add a track with your e-drum, record the drums, if you still need to edit the song, paste the e-drum track to the original project, this doesn't fix the latency problem but it does achieve the goal.😎

[@bid111]

Hi Jason, I'm not familiar with Reaper but I do know in some DAW's such as Ableton latency is heard depending on your choice of monitoring. Therefore I'd suggest you try monitoring direct. This would mean your recordings would still need to be moved once you're ready to listen back but if you're working to a click you'd be able to see what the latency discrepancy is.

[@jasonwright4144]

@@bid111 thanks for the help. I just used an audio jack splitter to hear audio from the module while the track is muted when recording. Works like a charm

[@markt8517]

i have a td12 whats a low latency audio interface around 500 (Doesnt have to be new) windows , superior drummer 3.

[@b-i-d8092]

Hi there Mark, what's your currency? If you're buying in £'s I would suggest a second (or 3rd) hand Prism Orpheus. These are old interface's BUT the sound and the latency levels are great! When they were released these interfaces were THE interfaces to have but cost ££££'s.....now, if you look around you can pick them up for as low as £500 - although they are rare so keep your eyes peeled. Failing to get your hands on one of those take a look at the RME range. They have a good selection of interfaces which deliver great sound quality and low latency. They're up there with the Prism in my opinion. Again second hand you should be able to pick one up in your price range but you'll need to hunt around. Both should work with Windows too but make sure you check the OS before you buy. If none of these are about then there is always the Focusrite brand and of course Universal Audio whose interfaces are used the world over by Pro's and have a great reputation. Hope all this helps! Happy New Year!

[@kwekut6448]

thank you for the explanation. i have a question, i own A Roland TD4 edrum . anytime i hook it up with my pc to play from a drum software ,or even from ableton live 11 Daw, the latency is unbearable . too huge . i have tried this buffer size technique u showed here but still to no avail. my pc is a latest model , fast with ample space . can you help me to solve this issue pls . i have sessions that require it but i cant function with it . thanks

[@JbskMsj]

If u have fixed ur issue please let me know

[@jarredgraffiti]

What about kits that aren't super expensive, Alesis Nitro Mesh?

[@bid111]

Hi Jarred, there shouldn't be any issues if your kit is not expensive as all electronic kits have parameters where you can adjust thresholds and sensitivity. The latency issues I discuss in this video are all to do with using a computer running music software, in this case Ableton Live.

[@sammygoris]

Do audio interfaces help reduce latency?

[@jasonhoumusic]

An interface with better driver or faster connection (USB 3.0/Thunderbolt) than your current one will reduce latency. Adjusting I/O buffer is more effective and usually can solve the problem.

[@MrBeen992]

no

[@drumsandmore4448]

I can set my latency manually or what my daw has recorded ( I guess though samples) my daw says it's 256......would you overide the daw 256 sample rate by manually overriding? If so, what should number should I try? 256 first and go down in numbers like 128 then 96...I'm lost, but when im doing drum covers listening to the song and playing my drums, it's sounds like I'm dragging if you know what I mean.

[@bid111]

Hello! Yes, over ride the DAW. Set the buffer size manually. 128 is good or 64. Any latency should disappear. What DAW are you using?

[@drumsandmore4448]

@@bid111 thanks for the advice. I'm using Calkwalk. It's totally free. Is it bad? Is there another free DAW that you recommend?

[@bid111]

@@drumsandmore4448 it’s not bad no. I haven’t used CakeWalk but I believe it’s a good DAW.

[@Laptops1781]

I have dove so deep into my daw and cannot find anywhere to adjust sample size. It's very annoying.

[@bid111]

mike finnity what DAW are you using? Have you looked inside of your DAW’s preferences?

[@Laptops1781]

@@bid111 using cool edit pro. It's an older software. The wav in setting allowed me to adjust the latency in milliseconds, but it had zero effect on the latency

[@bid111]

@@Laptops1781 I'm not familiar with this DAW. Do you use an audio/midi interface?

[@Laptops1781]

@@bid111 I'm not. I'm going direct from my roland drums into the line input on the computer

[@bid111]

@@Laptops1781 Ok, I would say this is not helping you. Latency is caused by delays in the processing of data. In your case this is as it travels from your roland to your computers processor and then back out again to your speakers. Your computers processor is not only processing this information but also many other bits of data therefore your computer needs to be up to the task. To do the job efficiently it needs to have a fast processor and as much RAM as you can afford (and that the computer can have) with a large and fast hard drive too. Sadly, when you begin to integrate computers you soon realise it's not as easy as just plugging a lead in and away you go. I would certainly suggest you look at your computers configuration first of all. What processor is it? How much RAM do you have and how fast is the hard-drive? Then, how can I make it better? I'd also look at using an audio interface instead of your computers. These are designed specifically for audio applications with drivers that are capable of processing audio data much faster. For entry level check out the Behringer UMC22 audio interface but don't forget you still need to make sure your computer is configured correctly with the processor, RAM and hard-drive.