Latency Issue with Adobe Audition

Report · Jun 27, 2022

I've been experiencing latency issues in my multi-track recordings, though I don't use the monitors which I think may be another place where latency occurs. I watch some videos related to latency issues in Adobe Audition and they were suggesting changing the settings in Adobe Audition under Audio Hardware -> Device Class. On my system, it only has MME and WASAPI as an option, while they describe ASIO as being the preferred Device Class to resolve this latency problem. I *think* this means I need an ASIO driver, but I'm not sure where I'd find it. I use a Scarlett 2i2 USB and I don't see them offering multiple versions of the driver, so maybe I'm doing something wrong. Am I misunderstanding how this Device Class thing works? There's also an option on my system for a WASAPI Device Class. And of course I should ask about the actual "latency" setting that shows up after selecting the Input/Output on the Audio Hardware page -- does this refer to the monitors? Or is this a recording latency?

I guess I could work this simpler: If I am trying to record vocals along to music, what setting would I use to minimize latency?

Report · Jun 27, 2022

There's a page on the Focusrite site here which explains reasonably clearly what you have to do, although it's not Audition-specific. The gist of it as far as Audition is concerned is that in the settings page where you get device class options, you select ASIO - assuming that is that you've downloaded the appropriate driver from Focusrite. If you only have MME and WASAPI showing, this rather suggests that you haven't...

Report · Jun 27, 2022

Hi - looks like you are correct, I didn't have the proper drivers. Now that I've installed them, I'm getting the ASIO option to show up.

What should be the correct I/O Buffer Size? It defaults to the lowest setting (16) and goes up to 1024. I notice in my Windows notification settings that after I connect the Focusrite device that it says it has a Buffer Size of 192. I also read on an Adobe Audition that a lower buffer leads to less latency. So I'm sorta confused... part of my thinks I should be maxing this thing out and part says I should keep it low.

As it may be relevant, I've two computers I can record with. One has an 11th Gen Intel i3-1115G4 @ 3.00GHz with 8GB RAM. The sound card on it confuses me as I see both Intel Smart Sound Technology and RealTek Audio listed in the drivers. The other computer has an Intel i7-8750h @ 2.20 GHz with 16 GB RAM (its possible 8 GB of this RAM comes from the video card, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070). The audio card on this one says NVIDIA High Definition Audio, Intel Display Audio, NVIDIA Virtual Device, and RealTek audio.

Report · Jun 28, 2022

The answer to the buffer size is that you should start from the shortest setting and go on increasing it until you get no more stuttering during typical playback, and then set it one step further. Ideally it's best to do this whilst playing back several tracks at once in Multitrack; this is going to give you the maximum load condition as far as buffering is concerned. But I have to say that if you aren't doing multitrack music work, where you want synchronous playback and recording, the buffer size is way less critical anyway.

If you've got a Scarlett 2i2 set up and working correctly, then the best thing to do is use this exclusively and ignore all the built-in options altogether!

Report · Jun 28, 2022

I'm confused by the two pieces of advice. You mentioned starting with the
lowest setting for the I/O Buffer and then increasing it until there's no
more stuttering... but then you also said if the Scarlett 2i2 is setup and
working correctly, I should just ignore the built-in options. Is this a
contradiction or am I misunderstanding?

Report · Jun 28, 2022

No, the reference to the Scarlett was in reference to your built-in sound options - nothing to do with latency at all, which is why it was in a different paragraph. Sorry if that wasn't clear. The latency setting proceedure goes for any sound device.