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Thought I would provide some tips I learned over the last 6 months getting my latency way down. Please feel free to share your own as I am not sure I did everything possible.

My rig:
- Roland RD 2000
- Asus laptop Q551L Intel Core i7, 12 Gig RAM, SSD, purchased end of 2015
- USB connection Roland to Asus
- Outboard Benchmark DAC USB 1 for playback (via a 2nd USB connection to Asus)
- UVI Workstation engine and VI Labs Ravenscroft virtual instrument
- ASIO 4 All driver

Key settings:
- Get your UVI Workstation Buffer Size down as low as possible - for me, I got it down to 128
- Ger your ASIO 4 All driver down as low as possible - for me, I got it down all the way to 64 samples
- Don't run any programs.. leave it alone, if you do, reboot.

What do do on your computer - very little actually:

- Turn you computer on about an hour (just a guess) before you use it with wireless ON and load Ravenscroft. When you boot Windows, the underlying software will go through a whole bunch of housekeeping tasks such as going to the 'net and looking for updates..... time on will allow these jobs to finish and the computer processes will quiesce. I also check for WIndows updates immediately and load them if they exist.
- Turn off wireless or pull out the Ethernet cable right before you start to play. This will shunt anymore of those processes that go to the 'net.

That is about it! No kidding.... If I don't do the above, I will get random popping and cracking and will have to move the Ravenscroft buffer to 256 but can leave the ASIO driver the same. I sent a help question to both UVI and VI Labs for tips and pretty much got nothing... one said that at 128, I am as low as I can go.

I was all prepared to start turning off, or disabling Windows processes and such such as Norton antivirus, and many of the unused processes Windows has buzzing around in there but I found I did not have to any of this if I just did the above items. Is this because my 5-year old machine is still very powerful or are the little things I did have such a profound effect? I dunno. Maybe ASUS has a good underlying architecture? Maybe just having a powerful laptop will do it?

Post your WIndows tips here....

BTW, I can't tell there is latency with my system.... HOWEVER..... when I flip between Ravenscroft and then my native sounds in the Roland, clearly latency is at play as the immediacy of the Roland is very apparent. Not because the Ravenscroft is slow, but darn, the Roland piano sounds give me the very real illusion I am banging on a string. There is a clear difference, and I attribute this to latency. But again, I love playing the Ravenscroft and if I don't compare them directly, I have no awareness of any latency with the Ravenscroft and these settings.

Regarding using the Benchmark DAC, it has a latency and given the unit was not designed for low latency, there may be a slight issue there but Benchmark told me the latency is about 5ms. The outboard DAC will not affect pops and cracks, but will add to the latency and therefore the playing experience.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

BTW, here is an extended article on getting latency down.... I looked at it but really did not try and attack it at that detailed level as my laptop doubles as my work machine I bring to my client sites... never want to screw with that!

https://download.cantabilesoftware.com/GlitchFree.pdf

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Some tips based on personal experience:

1- For those that own Dell machines, set "Dell" services to "manual" with task manager or, even better, disable them. ESPECIALLY Dell support assist, that in my experience screw latency up. I set all them to manual in case I need support or want checking if there is some update, in which case I start the service and stop once no longer needed.

2- Do not rely on Windows to install the native ASIO drivers of your interface, it does not. The drivers it install are for whatever interface is Windows' standard.

3- Disable Windows paging file (virtual memory). Ofc, you MUST have a decent amount of physical RAM and run only programs/processes you need so Windows will not need to do paging (it may do paging even if there is still tons of unused physical memory if paging is enabled).

I have had a look at this as well, I think because of a previous post of yours (if it was you, thanks). But so far, these simple things above have helped a lot with Pianoteq. Also with other issues I was having when doing remote meetings.

I have Ravenscroft but gave up with VSTs because of latency, computer fan making noise and all the inconvinience. If a get a Mac one day i will try again but not before that. It was too much trouble

Or just buy a PC with a fast processor. I did, and none of the optimizations were necessary. Just set ASIO to 64 and done. It was really that easy.

The notorious Nvidia drivers don't seem to cause problems.
Dell services are still enabled.
Page file size remains set to the default.
sshd, rsync, MySQL services are running at all times.
Chrome is hoggishly running 34 processes and using 4 GB of RAM.
And yet there are no problems.
Wireless is turned off ... only because I'm on a wired connection.

A fast CPU is nice to have. You spend a bunch of bucks, but the box won't be a slug-wart after five years. I prefer not to cheap-out.

Yea, I agree..... a fast machine is good and makes most issues go away.

I stopped helping people with their PC problems years ago... most are trying to get their old machines to do things they just can't do. In addition to being old, most purchased budget machines... so doubly bad.

Today, you can get a fast machine.... spend some bucks.... most problems just go away.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

I don't get setting different buffer size values in ASIO and UVI, as only 1 setting is being used when using software. I mean, UVI buffer will overwrite global ASIO settings or the opposite way.
The rest of your post is very helpful.

Regarding having fast computer vs optimizing system environment, well.. both are quite important. I have a few years old, music-only dedicated HP Elitebook 2570p, with 3gen i7, 16GB RAM, average 256GB SSD, running Windows 7 64bit Pro and optimized by myself for VSTs and quite powerful 2018 Lenovo laptop, which I use at work, with 6gen i7 (6700HQ), 32GB RAM, 500GB M.2 SSD, running Win10 with latest updates. To be honest, old HP 'feels' faster in everyday use and when playing VSTs it's much more stable and I notice less pop and clicks with Embertone Walker D, 36 layers and all beautifications loaded. So I think optimization IS important. OK, to be honest, the biggest optimization I can imagine is not using Win10

One funny thing regarding those online DAW-PC-optimization tutorials is you can often find tip to turn off Windows Aero (or whatever it's called) to decrease CPU ussage. In reality it is completely the opposite (yes, I measured it). If you are using anything newer than Windows XP, the GPU, not CPU, is taking care of producing system graphics calculation so by turining Aero off, you force your computer to use CPU to calculate the old GUI

In my opinion, it's not fair to judge VSTI if you are using the ASIO4ALL driver with an onboard audio codec. The main problems with latency are caused by low CPU power, Windows' power plan and audio interface.

You have to use an audio interface with its own drivers provided by the vendor (with support of ASIO for sure) to run VSTI as it should on Windows. Many of us spent hundreds (or even thousands) of bucks on VSTIs so I don't see the reason not to buy a good audio interface.

Do you need another piano VSTI to upgrade your collection? "NO!" - until you don't have a good audio interface and enough CPU/Ram "power". It will enhance your piano palette much better than any super-sounding instrument. Optimize your hardware and only then your software.

Just my two cents.

Max, your advice would be well-to-heed some years ago. But these days lots of people use on-board audio interfaces with no problems.

Help me understand this use of an audio interface.... I don't get it. IF the objective is to get low latency, how can adding a piece of electronics between your keyboard and PC help? The device must hear, and then rebroadcast the signal to the PC... no way can that be the "fastest way". In my rig, I have the RD 2000 keyboard cabled directly to the PC. How can anything be faster?

Coming out of the PC (or into), I am not using the audio card at all... the point, I thought, of using a special driver such as ASIO4ALL is that the card and the operating system's sound processing kernel (does volume with others) is bypassed... what used to be called "kernel streaming". An ASIO4ALL or other like driver, is to speed the transfer of a bit-perfect signal in to the PC and to your virtual instrument or DAW, and back out again as fast as possible with no change to the bit stream.

Regarding buffer settings, in what I have read, keeping your buffer sizes as low as possible (just above when cracking occurs) shuttles data in and out of the PC in the fastest, lowest latency way. For UVI Workstation, it has its own buffer settings as does ASIO4ALL.... I am unaware that one "overwrites" the other... where is this denoted in any documentation?... I just never saw it.

For my configuration, I can set ASIO4ALL to its smallest buffer setting, then the UVI settings is what causes the crackling.... I got that down to 128... if I turn on wifi, I get cracks and pops. I am not getting that overwrite issue. My approach came from... either VI Ravenscroft or UVI.... I used both their documentation (very light unfortunatly) as well as emails to their support staff... hence my approach.

What do I have wrong here or what do I misunderstand?

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Your audio device (internal, or external, whatever) is responsible for processing sound. It is the device for which you set buffer size, not software. You can set this directly in this device settings or in UVI Workstation/Kontakt (every DAW and most of other standalone players). You cannot technically have different buffer size values set simultanously and active for 1 particular device, so if you set 64 samples at Windows ASIO4ALL directly and then 128 in UVI, the latter value probably overwrites the Windows one. It would be like driving a car 60MPH and 120MPH at the same time, it's impossible (well, Einstein would disagree). That's what I meant.

Regarding use of audio interface.. these days it doesn't matter so much as onboard soundcards usually have good enough performance in that aspect. By the way Bruce, you are an owner of 'external audio interface' - you have it built-in in your RD2000 and it should be visible as a device in your DAW settings. You can try using it and see if it brings any difference.

Hi all, especially Bruce in Philly as we both have RD2000 and Ravenscroft. I use a 2012 MacBook, high sierra (will eventually go to mojave when brave enough)2.5GHz, i5, 16G Ram 1600Mhz DDR3 with Samsung SSD 850 EVO 1TB. I'm not very techie but usually manage to get through enough to play and enjoy the music.

I've been fairly happy (crack-free) at 128 using 5pin midi to Scarlett 2i4 (128) then Scarlett-usb to Mac for playing Ravenscroft in Logic-UVI (128). I've also wondered about the need to set the 128 in the UVI and Logic, but keep them both the same, pretty simple except for when I was trying out different numbers. When I turn on more mikes for making recordings, I usually go to 512 (just in Logic) to make smoother operation.

I like a lot of the sounds on RD2000 and have just started to develop a workflow to get the RD to work with individual RD sounds as well as getting the audio via USB into Logic. Started by connecting directly with USB to Mac without Scarlett interface was easy, and use a 2nd USB to connect the Scarlett to Mac so I can get the sound to my monitors (Yamaha HS7's).

Current problem:Ravenscroft cracks much easier when connecting directly from RD to Mac. I have removed the 5pin midi connection and tried midi via USB. I tried 2 different USB cables but the cracking is definitely too touchy when going direct from RD to Mac compared to through Scarlett. Any thoughts?

I've also just started to learn if midi and audio at same time has any caveats, seems easy enough to deal with audio rendering as a separate operation when mixing if "dual" mode causes problems. Really enjoy how I can use the sliders on RD to control midi tracks in logic set to RD sounds.

I am very thankful for the forums and happy with the RD2000. Ravenscroft is the only VST I've used and enjoy it's beautiful sounds and ability to tweak when in the mood for change. RD pianos are cool, obviously not VST quality, but also a nice tool to use when in that mood for a change, even adding a little bite to Ravenscroft's 128 latency.

Any help with learning best way to connect my RD, Mac, Scarlett and monitors that will make controlling VST and having full benefit of RD sounds is appreciated.

Odd that the direct RD 2000 to computer via USB gives you problems.... that USB connection is supposed to be a special strength of the RD 2000 in providing features and lowering latency. I have windows, not a mac user so ...... hmmm.... For WIndows, you need to install the Roland-specific driver downloaded from Roland's website (they have both MAC and WIndows drivers there). That is the first item. Second was to abandon the Windows drivers for the digital output from Ravenscroft, and for that I used Asio4All driver.

For the audio over USB (not MIDI), it appears the Windows drivers are used to interact with the RealTech sound card both of in and out. This MIDI and digital audio run in parallel on the USB cable and again, is a strength of the RD 2000. For normal playing of my Ravenscroft with RD 2000, I don't use the audio over usb capability at all.

I am a bit sketchy on the architecture, but..... as I understand it, the following:

1 - for MIDI USB RD 2000 to computer and then on to the Ravenscroft, you need the Roland Drivers - In Ravenscroft MIDI devices, I select Roland 2000
2 - for "audio" to computer and its soundcard, the native Windows drivers are ok for in out (but I don't use this feature... I do with my DAW, but that is another animal of complexity)
3 - for digital out from Ravenscroft to my outboard Benchmark DAC, I select Asio and Asio4All in the Ravenscroft Audio Devices menu (gives bit-perfect transfer without going through Windows sound kernel or sound card)

I have Ravenscroft set to 128 and virtually never hear a crackle. Very rarely and when it does crackle, I attribute this to Windows doing something in the background.... I usually forgot to turn off WiFi so I suspect the system or some software like virus protection or Adobe or whatever is checking for updates or reporting my evil doings to the mother ship.

Sorry, I can't be of more help..... but is appears I got latency way down.... it was awful when I first set up the system... unplayable actually and my heart sank. Then I went to work. I just don;t see how putting a piece of electronics between the MIDI output of the keyboard and a computer improves anything.... it just has to add latency.

So I suspect, for lowest latency and least crackling, you should connect the RD 2000 to the MAC directly via USB after installing the Roland-provided drivers. Then in Ravenscroft, select the RD 2000 as MIDI input. For output, I suspect you are using the Scarlet to be the DAC ... then Scarlet to your monitors or headphones (nothing wrong with this) and you would select the Scarlet as your Audio Device in Ravenscroft. If you are using the MAC's soundcard to do the digital to analog translation and then going to some outboard speakers or headphone, you should ditch that Scarlet completely as it provides no value but to add another hop in the communications links. Any device between where you are and where you want to go adds latency as it has to listen, and then rebroadcast.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Thanks for the reply. I ordered a 10ft USB cable to help me play around some more with the setup. Ideally, I will find a repeatable way to have optimum Ravenscroft behavior, along with maximum ease of communication from RD to Logic.

I certainly agree that common sense says there would be lowest latency direct from RD to Logic without Scarlet. The Scarlet is nice for me in order to have control of monitors, headphones, etc and I can easily add vocals while recording keys. Have fun playing and contributing, nice to read other piano lover posts who know how lucky we are to have VSTs.