Latency Or Late-In-Sing?

[DallasSteve]

I'm recording a vocal track in Cakewalk and when I replay it, the vocal is about one half beat behind the music on each new line that I sing.  I thought it might be me so I re-recorded it multiple times and it keeps playing back about one half beat late.  I have recorded vocals a few times before (in an earlier session) and I didn't have this problem.  So it's making me think that this is a latency problem.  I tried shutting down Cakewalk, then re-start it, and re-record the vocals, but the vocals are still late.

I'm 99% sure it's not me.  I've been very careful to hit the right beat but it still re-plays about a half beat late.  I didn't have this problem before.  Is it because I have too many VSTs in the project or too many synths or too many tracks?  What is the most likely suspect?  Should I re-start my computer?  It's not a fantastic machine, but it's not an old dog and it wasn't a problem before.

[DallasSteve]

18 minutes ago, John Vere said:

On board audio is when you use the computers sound chip. In your case it is a Real tech. 
If you use a proper “Outboard “ audio interface then it will come with ASIO drivers and you should always use those when using that device. 
Glad you got it working. 

John

My first solution didn't work after all.  Here is the status of the Audio drivers related to my set up:

ASIO - My USB microphone won't work in ASIO

WDM/KS - Doesn't work in Cakewalk

WASAPI Exclusive - The USB microphone works, but it is too quiet to be useful, even at max volume

WASAPI Shared - The USB microphone works, but it is delayed one half beat on playback

MME (32-bit) - That is my solution; the sound seems a little muddy, but it works (my voice isn't that great anyway)

I don't know what was different last week.  Then I think I was using WASAPI Shared and it worked, but now it is a half beat late.

 

[Byron Dickens]

What audio interface/ driver are you using?

[rsinger]

Easy to test. Create a new project and use PRV to create a click track and then record vocals on another track. Let us know what happens.

[DallasSteve]

36 minutes ago, rsinger said:

Easy to test. Create a new project and use PRV to create a click track and then record vocals on another track. Let us know what happens.

Good idea.  I'll do that and report back, and I'll try to remember that 'debugging' tip for the future.

[DallasSteve]

37 minutes ago, bdickens said:

What audio interface/ driver are you using?

I see Realtek Audio with WASAPI Shared.  Is that what you mean?  It's a Windows 10 laptop.

I remember that when I connected the USB microphone the audio track defaulted to Left Microphone and I changed it to Stereo Microphone.  There is also a Stereo Stereo Mix.  Do those choices affect this problem?

 

[DallasSteve]

I created a test project with a click MIDI track and a Audio track for my vocal.  When I record the vocal, carefully to hit the beat, it's still one half beat behind on multiple attempts.  And that was in a project with only those two short tracks and no VSTs.  I also went back to my original project and the vocals I recorded last week are right on time.  So, I think it must be latency.  What is causing it?  Do I need to re-start my computer?  Do I need to uninstall some VSTs or re-install Cakewalk?  Can VSTs affect the test project even though I didn't use them in the test project?

 

Edited August 12, 2021 by DallasSteve

[DallasSteve]

I re-started my PC and tried again.  That did not solve the problem.

[DallasSteve]

I even tried using the internal microphone (skipping the USB microphone) and it also is recording about 1/2 beat behind the MIDI beat.  I guess some people get this to work, but I've never gotten consistent stable results from the latest generation of Cakewalk.  I spend all of my time trying to debug the setup and almost no time being musically creative.

[DallasSteve]

OK.  I found the problem.  Or a problem.  I switched Audio Driver Mode back to ASIO. It had been on WASAPI Shared.  I don't remember why I switched it to that.  It solved an earlier problem.  I will go back through my posts and see what that was and if that problem is back. 

Anyway, for the moment the latency problem is gone and the vocal recording now syncs with the MIDI beat.

[John Vere]

You cannot use on board audio for recording in sync. Only ASIO mode reports Round trip latency correctly so Cakewalk can adjust your sync. And DON'T use the Real tech ASIO driver as it is reported to be very low quality. 

You need a proper ASIO audio interface for recording audio with any DAW. On board will work fine for midi and using loops.

 

 

[DallasSteve]

I searched my earlier threads and I found why I had switched to WASAPI Shared.  My USB microphone won't work in ASIO.  So I tested again using WASAPI Exclusive and the USB microphone works with that and it records in sync with the MIDI tracks.  So the problem seems to be solved now.  Maybe it would also work in WASAPI Shared.  Maybe I just needed to have Cakewalk scan the Driver Mode settings again.

John, I'm not sure what "On board" means relative to ASIO and WASAPI.  Do you see a problem with my solution of going to WASAPI Exclusive?

[DallasSteve]

13 minutes ago, John Vere said:

You cannot use on board audio for recording in sync. Only ASIO mode reports Round trip latency correctly so Cakewalk can adjust your sync. And DON'T use the Real tech ASIO driver as it is reported to be very low quality. 

You need a proper ASIO audio interface for recording audio with any DAW. On board will work fine for midi and using loops

John,

I'm not sure what "On board" means relative to ASIO and WASAPI.  Do you see a problem with my solution of going to WASAPI Exclusive?  It seems to be working now.

[Byron Dickens]

46 minutes ago, John Vere said:

You need a proper ASIO audio interface for recording audio with any DAW.

Be careful about telling the truth about this. Some SJW here tattled on me for the same thing & I got a nasty gram from one of our esteemed moderators.

[John Vere]

2 hours ago, DallasSteve said:

John,

I'm not sure what "On board" means relative to ASIO and WASAPI.  Do you see a problem with my solution of going to WASAPI Exclusive?  It seems to be working now.

On board audio is when you use the computers sound chip. In your case it is a Real tech. 
If you use a proper “Outboard “ audio interface then it will come with ASIO drivers and you should always use those when using that device. 
Glad you got it working.