Mix + record live band with only software FX - sufficiently low latency!

[des0free]

This is super interesting. I would not have expected a low-priced laptop to be able to run too many live tracks. (Although, for me $450 is a mid-priced laptop.) Do you have a second set of ears you trust to help with this setup. It seems like that would be really useful. When you record the live band, how many inputs do you expect to have at the same time?

It's also interesting because it is in many ways the opposite of what I am working on right now. I'm trying to record alone (not with a band), into my Micro BR (not a computer), doing as much as possible with pedals (not plugins or patches). But the goal is kind of the same: To have a quick and low-risk setup that works, without a lot of fiddling every time. For you: performing/recording live. For me: Noodling and sketching.

My wife and kids listen, so I get some feedback.  But I also posted a recording above where I close mic the PA speakers (post #5), or put a stereo zoom recorder in the room (post #3 - which affected by the sub-optimal room acoustics).

For the present, I'll mostly just be recording myself (guitar + vocal) playing to my backing tracks, but I tried out the 16 input interface for curiosity and future flexibility (and I just like fooling with equipment/software...) - but maybe I can get my kids to play with me - I could hook up 2 keyboards (each stereo) and 2 more mics, and that would be a total of 8 inputs. The other thing is I could just leave a bunch of different mics, guitars, bass, and keyboards plugged in at all times, each with desired plugins applied, so every instrument is "ready to go". With my old two-channel interface I was always fussing around unplugging and plugging the instruments, and changing plugins. Also, although I was using a $2000 laptop (four year old Dell XPS 15 with apparently defective audio drivers...), was always glitching the recordings.

Regarding the low latency recording, I did some tweaking (of Windows 10) to improve it. I will make a separate post about that

On the other hand, I do think we humans tend to spend too much time hunched over computers like zombies, especially since many jobs involve that. In that sense, I see an argument for using a dedicated recording interface - I sometimes also enjoy using my Zoom R24 (which has 8 simultaneous inputs). But the infinite diversity of plugins (and many are available for free) also fascinates me.


 

 
 

[des0free]

Here are some of the tweaks I did to Windows 10 (and in Reaper DAW) to try to reduce latency for real time mixing and recording  of many channels with many FX plugins applied:

- I picked a laptop that has a SSD and scored high (for the price) in CPU speed tests (https://www.cpubenchmark.net/)

- I dedicated the laptop for live mixing/recording, so uninstalled almost all the software (except essential drivers/updates); especially delete all unnecessary junk that runs in the background (venders like Acer usually have hardware update and "health check" and Acer service software, etc. - none of it is necessary since windows already does updates). You can hit "Ctrl-Alt-Del" to bring up Task Manager to see what is running in the background.

- I only installed the audio interface (ASIO) driver for my Tascam interface, and Reaper DAW

- Turn off all unnecessary windows features (e.g., One Drive, Backup/File history, Cortana, Disk indexing, Game mode, Notifications, Background Apps, etc.), and turn as much as possible off in "Privacy settings"

- Set "Power settings" to "highest performance"

- Set "Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows", "visual effects" to "Adjust for best performance"

- Put laptop in "Airplane mode" (no Wifi, no bluetooth), and turn off all "Virus and threat protection settings" while recording.  I think these are a big one!  (this has to be redone if the computer is restarted)

- With Reaper (the DAW software) running, go to task manager, details tab, right click Reaper, and set priority to "Real time" (this has to be redone if the software or computer is restarted)

- In Reaper and/or the ASIO driver setting software set the audio sampling rate as high as possible and buffer size as low as possible (but if glitching occurs you'll need to increase buffer size and/or decrease sampling rate).  e.g. I'm using (set from within Reaper settings): 96 kHz and 128 sample buffer with my audio interface, and 64 sample may work too.

- If certain VST plugins are power hogs and seem to cause lag or glitching try replacing them with other plugins that do an equivalent function.     

- Record from as few inputs as you need to record from. (e.g. I tested that my interface can record all 16 channels at once, but if I'm just playing guitar and singing, I set the audio interface in settings to only use two channels "in".