Is 5.9MS a respectable amount of latency?

[dj matt blaze]

A little above half way isn't that bad but there is more to it than just latency. TP2 uses more CPU power because of the new ability to be able to route more than 1 deck to the same output. That takes up a lot of CPU power. I use a Xone DX and have the system performance set at "normal" which gives me the output latency at 1016 samples/23ms and the input latency at 307 samples/6 ms. This translates in Traktor as latency at 256, processing 5.8, output 17.2, overal 23ms. My meter is about 1/4 way. The other thing that pushes CPU power big time is keylock. Go to the transport setup and change the keylock settings to Eco and scratch and you will see a drop in CPU power. I have no issues at all.

[NathanWard]

I run with 6.8 on my desktop, and it's fine. CPU meter around half.

[photojojo]

I run around 11 just fine.

[Michielygil]

When using timecode, I find anything more than 8 ms gives me serious delay on the feedback.

[nem0nic]

First of all, the latency number reported in Traktor isn't your ACTUAL latency. At best, it's just the latency introduced by Traktor. So looking at that number as a rule is kind of a red herring. It's one small part of a much larger picture.

Second, the WAY you use your software makes a big difference. If you're using Traktor as a DVS, latency will be much more important to you than if you're using the software with a MIDI controller.

In the DJ world, the latency we're really concerned with is the time between a physical action (like pressing a cue button) and the resulting sound. But a lot of things can effect this. Are you listening to your mixing on speakers? Every meter they are away from you adds 3ms of delay. Using a hardware mixer instead of the internal software mixer? That can add more than 20ms of latency depending on the quality of the mixer and it's configuration. The length of your audio cables can also add delay (it's called propagation delay). Even the GUI process for your given app might introduce quite a bit of latency.

Guys, that latency measurement is a tool you can use to help tweak your own system for better performance. Don't get bent out of shape about your number. Tweak your system until YOU are happy with the performance of your particular setup. You will know immediately if latency is a problem for you.