Direct Monitoring DAW channels

[whatsoupParticipant]

Hi all,

I’ve got a bit of a problem with Ableton where monitoring ‘In’ or ‘auto’ on a channel introduces latency to a recording, which I accept comes with the territory.

A lot of solutions online to monitor and record with zero latency is have two channels, each with the same audio input but one with monitoring on (the one I hear) and the other channel with monitoring off (the one I record on), which I’m trying to avoid!

I’m in the very early stages of learning about direct monitoring and I’m curious if it’s possible to ‘listen’ to each DAW channel’s effects through the SQ whilst only using one channel with monitoring off, recording at low latency in the DAW.

Have I got the wrong end of the stick here – Is that at all possible?

Will there always need to be a channel in the software with monitoring enabled if I am to send the DAW effects to the desk?

I’m using an Ableton Push 2 controller and I’m really trying to avoid the clutter of extra channels.

If any of this is possible could someone please give me a very basic point in the right direction for routing this please and I’ll have a look later. I’m fairly to grips with routing but I need to make sure I’m in the right place first! 🙂

All tips welcome!

Many thanks!

[KeithJ A&HModerator]

@whatsoup

The SQ itself has extremely low latency, but as soon as you introduce the transfer of signal to and from a computer as well as processing in the DAW there will be latency.
It doesn’t really matter whether you’re recording or not, the latency will be there for anything you are monitoring back from the computer.

I imagine the solutions you mention are suggesting to use 2 channels in the mixer, so you get the benefit of low latency monitoring through the mixer and use the other channel for recording.

Will there always need to be a channel in the software with monitoring enabled if I am to send the DAW effects to the desk?

– Yes. It is not possible to hear the effects without sending signal to and from the computer/DAW.

There were two live streams recently that may be of interest:
One all about Latency, including why it exists as well as differences with different protocols – https://youtu.be/LjPXMSlW8aM
One about SQ and Qu in the studio, including best options for recording, monitoring and routing – https://youtu.be/UsCTtpVNnzo

Thanks,
Keith.

[whatsoupParticipant]

Thanks Keith, just listened to the routing video, very interesting.

If I am reading you correctly there isn’t any benefit to routing USB audio back into the desk on its own channel if the latency is in the DAW and I’m workin in the box anyway.

I’m just a bit confused what direct monitoring is in the context of the SQ. I’m either listening to the physical input on the SQ with none of the DAW effects, or I could route the USB output from each channel from the DAW onto its own channel on the SQ, but I am guess I would still have the latency from the DAW monitoring anyway.

I might try route each USB channel into the desk to see if there’s any other benefits. It’s hard to think about it until I try it!

Thanks

[ForestParticipant]

One method that might work would be to reduce the buffer size in Ableton for lower latency. I’m preferences-audio-latency….
Also, if you’re using software instruments rather than audio files that could make the DAW, and computer processor, to run slower and work harder. I’d suggest bouncing software instruments into audio files if this is the case.
Finally, you can also delay the return (tracks) channels slightly thus building in your own buffer.

So..
1. Reduce latency in DAW
2. Bounce software instrument tracks
3. Delay return tracks on SQ6 slightly (only if the first two methods don’t resolve the issue first.)

Also, worthy of mentioning..
You can always use the inputs on the SQ as a monitor mix and utilize the onboard FX.
Then if you absolutely need to use Ableton for FX later, you can add them when you mix down your project.

Hope this helps.

[Author]

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