Line6 UX1 interface with new computer - is this as good as I can expect?

[82DMC12]

Hi guys,

I have had frustrating latency problems with my computer setup for the last few months, bad enough where I stopped playing as much as I used to. I used to have an AMD quadcore that only benched around 2200. I finally decided to do something about it so I just built a new computer.

Specs - Intel i7 4790k 4.0 MHz, SSD for the operating system, Windows 10 64 bit, 8 gig DDR3 ram running dual channel, 2 HDD's for storage and backups. USB 3.0 and 2.0 jacks.

I have been using, for the last five years or so, a Line6 UX1 interface. I plug my guitar into it, and then using Ableton Live 8 Suite, bring up PodFarm2 for my amp sim and usually Recabinet for cab sim. I also have LePou plugs.

Within Ableton, in the audio settings, the lowest buffer I can select (and is available) is 128. I have the Tone Direct buffer at the smallest setting. I am running at 44.1 and 24 bit.

My total latency is about 15.5 ms (older computer could barely do 512 buffer so this is an improvement). This latency is pretty good and playing guitar feels natural. My CPU use is about 20% .

Is this as good as it gets with a USB 2.0 interface? Should I be looking at Firewire like the Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 if I want any better latency? This computer is pretty high-end for everything but gaming so I would think the interface and connection is the next bottleneck. Firewire cards are less than $40 now.

 

[JPhoenix19]

That's not a good as it gets with USB 2.0. I can beat 15.5 ms effortlessly with either my Rig Kontrol 3 or Focusrite Scarlet 6i6 (both USB 2.0 interfaces). With a little OS configuration/optimization I get under 7 ms round-trip latency with either interface.

I'd be willing to bet that with some tweaking you can get better latency. Is there a setting in Ableton that tells it to request the sample rate from the device/driver? I know Reaper does this, and if so Ableton would be able to run at whatever sample rate you set in the device's control software instead of the 128 Ableton's using now.

EDIT: I wouldn't bother with Firewire now that Thunderbolt is becoming more common on the market. If I'm not mistaken, you should be able to get expansion cards giving you Thunderbolt capability. TB interfaces are damn near latency-free... like, 1ms or so from what I gather.

 

[82DMC12]

OK, so maybe the UX1 is just not that great.

What kind of OS optimizations are you doing? I find it hard to believe that I need to downgrade windows 10 when I am using a top-of-the-line processor from four years after the UX1 came out in order to get "latency-free" performance.

And yes, I specifically purchased a MOBO that can do Thunderbolt.... you know, just in case.

In Ableton, in the Audio Preferences (SetUp), in the ASIO Client section, it lists ableton live 8.exe as the ASIO client, and there is a pull-down menu for Default buffer Size. The options are 128, 256, 512, 1024, etc.

I can also choose default bit depth of 16, 24, and 32.

There doesn't seem to be any way of choosing a smaller buffer size (which in turn produces a lower Overall Latency).

 

[Tegara]

I've owned an UX1 and mostly I didn't have latency problems. I now own a Pod GX which is even more stripped than UX1 and it's all I need. It's weird that you can't go past 128. Have you tried other DAWs? Is there not a green ASIO control panel in your icon tray? Because I can go down to 64 and increase or decrease the value with 8 sample intervals. Mine is set to 512 and my latency is around 12ms.