A noticeable delay when playing through my Komplete Audio 6 Mk1

skabbo

So I've had this interface forever, and I've gone through periods of using it heavily, and some of using it not-so-much. I recently started playing a lot again, so I plugged in, and I noticed something I don't remember hearing when previously using it (possibly pointing to a setup issue? But it's about as simple as it gets).

The issue is a slight delay between when I play a note on my guitar (running in on Line 2), and when that note is sounded by my PC speakers. For reference, I have a Tele running into a either into a pedalboard then to Input 2, or just Tele raw into Input 2 - doesn't make a difference in the delay I speak of. If I had to guess, I'd say it's roughly 250ms - short enough that it doesn't make me stumble over my words when I'm talking (I have a mic plugged into Input 1), but long enough that it does make me stumble over my playing when using the Tele. Using the Direct Monitoring option eliminates this, so it's not a problem between the input and the immediate output, but that rules out fun things like playing around with amp modeling software.

I've run the diagnostics that come with the Komplete 6 software, and it doesn't uncover any issues. The Control Panel is set to 48khz sample rate, 128 samples process buffer, and 1ms USB buffer. The Device Monitor returns 'Process State' = Streaming, and 7.0ms of Output Latency. The combined 8ms latency (between the USB buffer and the output latency) definitely doesn't explain the length of the delay I'm hearing. It becomes very obvious when switching back and forth between direct monitoring.

Any ideas what could be causing this? Any new (or old) drivers I could try to eliminate this? As I mentioned, I used to record into my PC using this interface all the time, so if there was a delay this long between playing a note and hearing it, I'm darn near certain I would've noticed it back then, but I didn't (though I WAS playing through a mic'd cabinet with no "real-time monitoring", so maybe I wouldn't have noticed the delay when playing it back, and it was there the whole time?

Any ideas what could be causing this oddness? I'd love to be able to pick up a copy of some amp/effect modeling software and have a blast with the thing, but it makes it very hard to play when I play a lick and I'm still hearing the attack of the last note I played as I play a new one.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

MyStudioOne

What is your block size setting? Lowering it can lower latency.

BUT, if you haven't reinstalled your PC for a while, it could be due. Just recently I was struggling with latency no matter what I did, and only a fresh install of my PC fixed it outright. It just gets bloated/bogged down over time and a sudden issue with latency is just one potential symptom.

mykejb

Do you have any high latency plugins loaded anywhere? What software are you using to play through?

-- Mike

skabbo

None - this was just playing totally dry. Line in from the guitar to the interface, and then hit "Monitor this device" in Sound Mixer (Win 11). I also tried it with my pedalboard (Echoplex Preamp > CS-1 Compressor/Sustain > Tube Screamer > Keeley modded DS-1 Distortion with All Seeing Eye and Ultra mods). All four have true bypass) and there was no difference in the delay.

MyStudioOne

What is your block size setting? Lowering it can lower latency.

BUT, if you haven't reinstalled your PC for a while, it could be due. Just recently I was struggling with latency no matter what I did, and only a fresh install of my PC fixed it outright. It just gets bloated/bogged down over time and a sudden issue with latency is just one potential symptom.

mykejb

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/129855#Comment_129855

I think the problem is "monitor in Sound Mixer" - that uses Windows audio which is generally high latency. Grab a copy of Guitar Rig 7 if you don't have it, make sure it's configured to use ASIO and you should find the delay pretty much disappears. Guitar rig link - Guitar Rig 7 Player | Free amp simulator and effects rack (native-instruments.com)

-- Mike

skabbo

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/129916#Comment_129916

Nailed it. It was Windows ****** I/O driver after all. I could hear before even plugging my guitar in that Guitar Rig was picking the mic up with no delay. Now I just need to decide if I want to shell out the $ for the non-trial version 🤔

Many thanks!

mykejb

@skabbo Are you running the full version as a trial or the "Player" version? If you already have your pedal chain you'd probably get away with the player version. That's totally free and doesn't stop working after 30 minutes like the demo version does.

-- Mike

skabbo

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/130049#Comment_130049

Thanks for the heads up! I had no idea the Player version existed. I figured I was stuck reopening the demo every 30 minutes.