Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt - Reference: Understanding Latency; What is Audio Latency?

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Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt | User’s Guide
Reference
Understanding Latency
What is latency?
When recording with most computer-based digital audio applications, a delay between the input and output
of the recording system often disturbs the timing of the musicians who are performing� This delay, known at
latency, means that the musician hears the notes he produces a few milliseconds after having produced them�
As anyone who has spoken on a phone call with echo knows, relatively short delays can confuse the timing of
any conversation, spoken or musical�
To illustrate the eect of latency, Figure A depicts the typical signal path of a vocal overdub session. A vocalist
sings into a microphone, which is routed through a hardware interface to the audio software application for
recording� In the software application, the vocalist’s live signal is mixed with the playback of previously recorded
tracks, and routed back through the hardware interface to the vocalist’s headphones� Because of the audio
application’s latency, the vocalist hears his performance delayed by several milliseconds in his headphones�