An interesting thread from Reddit. It’s a very long thread, so I’ll copy the Gig Performer part only.
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I’ve recently started getting back into music production at home after a long stretch of just not feeling it.
Gig Performer: removing latency from the equation
One thing I’ve noticed is that most interfaces in my price range actually perform worse latency-wise than my old Zoom. That got me thinking: what if I could take latency out of the DAW equation entirely?
That’s where Gig Performer comes in.
For anyone unfamiliar: Gig Performer is a plugin host mainly used for live performance. It costs about $150 for a lifetime license and can host pretty much any VST, AU, or AAX plugin. It’s extremely efficient CPU-wise and, crucially, it runs with its own buffer size completely separate from your DAW.
Think of it as an Apollo Console–style environment, but without being locked into UAD plugins.
I had experimented with it before but this time everything clicked. I’ve only tested this on macOS, so I can’t speak for Windows users, but here’s the basic setup:
1) Install BlackHole
Blackhole creates a virtual loopback input/output (2- or 16-channel versions available): BlackHole: Route Audio Between Apps
2) Create an aggregate device
Open Audio MIDI Setup and create an Aggregate Device combining your audio interface and BlackHole. In my case, this turns my 2-output Zoom into a 4-output device (2 physical + 2 BlackHole).
3) Gig Performer Audio Setup
In Gig Performer, select the aggregate device for input/output, create a basic patch, and wire things up so that: One signal goes straight to BlackHole (for recording). A copy runs through your plugin chain and out to the physical outputs for monitoring
4) DAW setup
Set your DAW to use the aggregate device and choose the appropriate inputs. For DI tracks, I record the BlackHole input (you can also record the processed signal if you want).
5) Set Gig Performer’s buffer size
Set Gig Performer’s buffer size as low as you like. I’m running 64 samples (32 also works fine).
The result:
I’m monitoring guitar amp sims and full vocal chains in Gig Performer with near zero latency, while my DAW session runs happily at 2048 samples. So 2 completely different buffer sizes. It feels like witchcraft, but it absolutely works and I can honestly recommend this setup.