Intermittent latency issues

Hi all,

I have this issue that has been outstanding since GP3.

When I change rackspaces, I sometimes have to reset the audio engine because a latency of about 10 - 20ms has been activated. Once I reset the audio engine by double clicking on the icon, after a few seconds I’m back in business… but its quite problematic when it happens on stage, if I dont notice it before the song starts then I have to play the whole song with this crazy latency.

As I said, it is intermittent and random…but it has happened many times.

My system is pc based and is as slim as i could possibly make it.
Any ideas?

Well, its not GP—otherwise this forum would be filled with similar threads.

Things to check:

  • The plugins in the rackspace(s)
  • The audio device settings
  • Any other apps competing for use of your audio device
  • Updating the audio device drivers
  • The cable used to connect the audio device to the PC
  • The power/sleep settings of the USB ports connected to the audio device
  • The power settings of the PC

I’m sure there are more that others will suggest.

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So you have lived with this issue for 6 years without saying anything???

That’s exactly right - the product would be completely unusable

Unless you’re doing something very strange with GP Script, in the absence of predictive loading, changing rackspaces does nothing more than bypass the plugins in the old rackspace and unbypass the plugins in the new rackspace. So one or more of your plugins might not be handling that basic operation properly. If you have any plugins from Plugin Alliance, their older plugins were doing license checks inside their audio thread (a 100% no no), which could also cause a problem

@edm11’s suggestions are excellent. I’d add one more item, make sure you don’t have any 32-bit plugins using something like jBridge.

What’s your Audio Interface? I had a M-Audio interface randomly introducing latency (I suspected a connection to higher CPU loads). Never really figured out what the issue was, I sold it right away and haven’t had the problem since.

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Tascam 16x08

I mentioned it a while back but I perservered… but now I’m all in on GP5 so I want to get my system very solid. I’m using predictive loading of 3. The issue is intermittent so its hard to find the cure. Its strange if it was a plugin you’d think it would happen all the time? Maybe I need a new audio interface

I suspect it is the audio interface.
Can you try with another one?

This seems to describe your issue somewhat:

2 Likes

Not easily. I need one with 8 outputs as I run tracks and click

Yes… and interestingly, when the engine is reset the latency issue is fixed. Maybe it is my interface.(drivers). They havent updated them since 2020. Does anyone have an 8 out interface that they recommend for GP5 that is rock solid?

A guy from the link above said the ASIO4ALL driver solved his issue.

So there is no Windows 11 support.

Which leads us to this suggestion. If I were you, I’d try with another interface. (which I think will solve the issue)

I’m still on windows 10 on my keys rig

So that means that you can only select ONE rackspace in advance without any delay. Do you ever select rackspaces further away than just the next rackspace in the list?

But also, the interface you are using is known to have latency issues, probably a driver issue,

Yes! Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 (Thomann website)

Hmm, I had one of those once and had tremendous problems with it, on a Mac. I assumed the issues were driver related and hopefully it works much better now.

There are other 8-channel interfaces worth considering though they’re a bit more expensive.

Look at MOTU, PreSONUS and RME

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Oh, I’m on a M3 Max Macbook Pro and it works like a charm!

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As mentioned by someone else…the current PC power settings. That’s the one I run up against rather infrequently. I don’t know if it’s a windows update that does it, but something will reset my power settings to “balanced”, or something like that, without my knowledge. I know it has happened when I see around 30-35% instead of my usual 14% in that GP performance meter, and hear intermittent clicks. Always an easy fix, I just put the power settings back to where I want them and I’m right back to 14%.

I stopped updating my systems.
I don’t have that much time to mess around with issues any more.

Disable Windows updates!

2 Likes

That is the same thing when changing variations within a single rackspace with widgets set to bypass plugins.

Somehow this method is not smooth but changing rackspaces is.
So how are the two methods different?

There seems to be some additional magic in the case of switching rackspaces.