Is my cable length between my soundcard and Macbook affecting latency?
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  1. #1
    Tech Guru Ross's Avatar
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    Default Is my cable length between my soundcard and Macbook affecting latency?

    Hey all,

    So I just upgraded my old laptop to an Oct 2011 Macbook Pro hoping for better latency in Traktor.

    However, I'm only really gaining about 1 ms better latency. Any lower and I get pops and crackles in audio whilst cuing with timecode vinyl using an Audio 8.

    The only thing I can think of that it might be is that I'm using a 1.5 meter cable between the Macbook and my sound card. I've heard that shorter is better (goes without saying really) but would the shorter cable really make that much difference, or do I just have to deal with the fact that I'll have pops and crackles for the rest of my life no matter what hardware I use?

    Thanks in advance guys.
    Pioneer DJM 700 / Traktor Kontrol X1 / 2 x Technics SL1200MK5 / Traktor Scratch Pro 2.6.7 / Ortofon Concorde Nightclub MK1
    Audio 8 DJ / Sennheiser HD 25-1 II / Magma Traveler / IsoAcoustics ISO-L8R155 / KRK RP6 G2 / Vinyl

  2. #2
    Tech Mentor Lilac's Avatar
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    A shorter cable is theoretically better as the longer the cable is, the greater the signal interference. But 1.5m really isn't all that long. I would suggest trying a shorter cable.

    The thing that affects latency the most is your CPU though, it's strange that upgrading your laptop didn't help. Have you tried fiddling about with your audio setup?

  3. #3
    Tech Guru Ross's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lilac View Post
    A shorter cable is theoretically better as the longer the cable is, the greater the signal interference. But 1.5m really isn't all that long. I would suggest trying a shorter cable.

    The thing that affects latency the most is your CPU though, it's strange that upgrading your laptop didn't help. Have you tried fiddling about with your audio setup?
    Yeah I'll buy a shorter cable and see if that helps.

    Yeah, it's an i5 MBP so it should be fine which is very confusing...

    What other audio settings would you suggest? I don't suppose it could be my needles? Time code vinyl?
    Pioneer DJM 700 / Traktor Kontrol X1 / 2 x Technics SL1200MK5 / Traktor Scratch Pro 2.6.7 / Ortofon Concorde Nightclub MK1
    Audio 8 DJ / Sennheiser HD 25-1 II / Magma Traveler / IsoAcoustics ISO-L8R155 / KRK RP6 G2 / Vinyl

  4. #4
    DJTT Administrator del Ritmo padi_04's Avatar
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    Try updating the drivers, I don't think getting a shorter cable will help in this case since the bottle neck is either caused by the USB internal hub or the CPU itself. What is your current latency?

  5. #5
    Tech Guru DarioJ's Avatar
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    Is Traktor still struggling with Multi-core support? I also upgraded recently and kept it off... I'll try it when I get home, but just a thought.
    The MUSIC is what matters!
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  6. #6
    Tech Guru Ross's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by padi_04 View Post
    Try updating the drivers, I don't think getting a shorter cable will help in this case since the bottle neck is either caused by the USB internal hub or the CPU itself. What is your current latency?
    I went through the OSX optimisation page on the NI website and these seemed to help...

    Keeping the MBP plugged in whilst mixing.
    Make sure the soundcard isn't plugged into the same port that shares the isight camera. I had it plugged in there before and it was giving me higher latency.

    I've managed to get it down to a comfortable 14. something ms currently.

    The drivers I am using are the ones that were included with 2.5.1.

    Quote Originally Posted by DarioJ View Post
    Is Traktor still struggling with Multi-core support? I also upgraded recently and kept it off... I'll try it when I get home, but just a thought.
    I have that turned off anyway, but if you try it and find you have good results then definitely post back in here!
    Pioneer DJM 700 / Traktor Kontrol X1 / 2 x Technics SL1200MK5 / Traktor Scratch Pro 2.6.7 / Ortofon Concorde Nightclub MK1
    Audio 8 DJ / Sennheiser HD 25-1 II / Magma Traveler / IsoAcoustics ISO-L8R155 / KRK RP6 G2 / Vinyl

  7. #7
    DJTT Administrator del Ritmo padi_04's Avatar
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    Turning off wifi and bluetooth connectivity helped with older models and earlier traktor builds, not sure if it still translates to the actual version but it won't hurt trying.

    Avoid analizing songs during playback to save some precious CPU cycles.
    Last edited by padi_04; 08-19-2012 at 07:50 PM.

  8. #8
    Tech Guru Ross's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by padi_04 View Post
    Turning off wifi and bluetooth connectivity helped with older models and earlier traktor builds, not sure if it still translates to the actual version but it won't hurt trying.

    Avoid analizing songs during playback to save some precious CPU cycles.
    Yeah, I've turned off BT and Wifi. Never analyze during playback.

    Strange that it won't go any lower with the load meter freaking out and getting mad pops and crackles.
    Pioneer DJM 700 / Traktor Kontrol X1 / 2 x Technics SL1200MK5 / Traktor Scratch Pro 2.6.7 / Ortofon Concorde Nightclub MK1
    Audio 8 DJ / Sennheiser HD 25-1 II / Magma Traveler / IsoAcoustics ISO-L8R155 / KRK RP6 G2 / Vinyl

  9. #9
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    What are your current driver settings?

  10. #10
    Tech Mentor AtgAni's Avatar
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    are you using osx 10.8? if you are you need the beta drivers off ni website

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