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Understanding Latency
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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.
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To illustrate the effect 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.
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