Latency problem with soundcards

[Alf]

In (yet) lack of vArranger I tried some other arranger software to test my two new midi2usb converters with three different keyboards.
I tried them with One Man Band, Music Studio, FreePlay Arranger and Live Styler 14.

My laptop is an HP with an i5 running at appr. 2.5 GHz, 240 GB SSD drive and 6 GB of RAM installed. The only software running for these tests under Windows 10 64 bit was the arranger software and the midi drivers. I tested with a build in soundcard as well as a usb external (quite cheap) soundcard.

My preferred midi driver is OmniMidi, although for testing purposes I also used VirtualMidiSynth, both with the "Timbres Of Heaven" soundfont.

With every arranger software and both midi drivers I got a fair amount of perceptible latency. It didn't really change anything in using Asio4all with VirtualMidiSynth or the Soundcard driver. Buffers in all drivers were set low to the extreme.
I tried it with sound properties from 48000 kHz down to 22050 kHz, just to test, if this would reduce the latency - no chance. Live Styler had the least latency value, the next best one was Music Studio, One Man band and at last FreePlay Arranger.

What I found really astonishing was when I use my nearly 20 year old Yamaha PSR-540 for midi input AND (!) and the same time midi output, I had far less latency than using the computer for playing back through OmniMidi or VirtualMidiSynth.

Now what's left for me to do to use my laptop as arranger AND playback facility simultaneously?

Any advice for a really low latency sound solution for my setup? For test purposes I could live with my PSR-540 as sound output. But it would be really nice to get the system working with sound output on my laptop itself.

Or maybe use one laptop as arranger and another laptop solely for the midi output through a software driver? I think there is a solution for this constellation with CopperLan. Would this be a good solution? Has anyone tried this before?

[Dan]

Hello,

Can you go on OPTIONS / MIDIPORTS and for the AUDIO OUTPUT, select the WASAPI output.
This should be the lowest latency with an internal sound output of a laptop

[Alf]

I knew about Wasapi as low latency solution before, thanks.
I'll check that. But I fear most of these arrangers haven't got a Wasapi option. But even the Asio4All option in one arranger (I forgot which one had this option) didn't do much to get rid of the latency.

I'll try it again (as Lennon would say) when I get home.

Although I'm really impressed what low latency exists, if I use the same keyboard for midi output and input. It's a perfectly playable solution, mainly lacking the sound options with soundfonts.

[Dan]

Asio4all should be the second choice if wasapi does not work.
Yes, you can use your PSR as midi keyboard and midi synth and it should sound good ! You can try to find the INS file of your PSR, to help you to select sounds from vArranger.

[Alf]

OmniMidi itself has a Wasapi output. So it doesn't work out with Wasapi alone. Even the Asio4all solution in Music Studio wasn't fast enough to deliver imperceptible latency.
I'll give CopperLan a try and will connect one Laptop as an arranger and one as an audio device. Maybe this will help.

Using my PSR-540 as an output device is exactly what I am not (!) looking for. I try to get a versatile solution with soundfonts and VSTs, so maybe CopperLan is the solution.

[Dan]

You don't need to use OmniMidi or any other software to use SoundFonts and VSTi in vArranger

https://www.varranger.com/wiki/index.php?title=SF2
https://www.varranger.com/wiki/index.php?title=VSTi

To get low latency with WASAPI, only one software should use the audio card in exclusive mode
So only vArranger, and it is the BEST