High latency with Lexicon Omega and Cubase LE

[Tumaini]

Hello!
I have a problem I just don't know how to solve. Seeing you seem pretty knowledgable a crowd here, I thought I'd pitch it to you!

I've got a Lexicon Omega, with the newest drivers installed, and selected in the device setup. Cubase LE came with the card, so I'm using that to record with, and I'm using a Roland E-28 midikeyboard to play midi into Cubase, using VST-instruments for the output.

The problem is, I'm getting a high latency, sometimes almost half a second it feels like (I don't know where to see how high it is), and I have no idea what to do to change it. The only things I've found were buffer sizes and number of buffers, but lowering those only helps slightly, and it makes the sound worse.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
I'd certainly appreciate it!

[itsplayed]

I'm not at all familiar with the Lexicon, but you can address which driver Cubase uses in the 'Device' menu. Device - Device setup - VST Multitrack....make sure the correct ASIO driver is selected then select 'Control Panel' to adjust for latency.

[Tumaini]

Ok, thanks, that's what I've been doing. I thought you could perhaps alter it directly, but through the control panel I can only change buffer size, number of buffers, sample size and rate, so I guess that's the tools I have. :)

[itsplayed]

Your welcome Tumaini, but are you sure that your using the correct ASIO drivers for your card? In the same menu(VST Multitrack) within the 'setup' tab use the pull down menu to see if you show more than one driver under 'ASIO driver'.

[Tumaini]

Well, yes, there are four drivers there - the ASIO directx full duplex driver (never used), ASIO multimedia driver (win, don't use that), Lexicon USB ASIO (that came with the card, I use this one mostly), and the Omega ASIO (the newest driver from the Lexicon site, beta).

[itsplayed]

Oh no, another USB device! ( Just busting your chops, but I hardly ever recommend the use of USB devices for anything audio related)....'Busted Chops'! I just realized, It was the name of one of the bands I was in...going way back! Anywho......First, make sure the soundcard is the only device on your USB Hub.

[bokonon]

Hey, I have the lexicon omega and was having the same problem. I'd like to update the ASIO driver, but their site is down as I write this...

Go to control panel (like you did) and set the Buffer Size to it's lowest value (~88) and the # of buffers to it's highest value (~14). This reduced my latency - not completely - but so that it's acceptable. It sounds to me like less than 20ms.

I don't know how this will affect RECORDING quality, but playback was smooth. At one point I had a movie playing using the other soundcard while I was working on CUBASE with the omega, and I got some clicking in the playback, which was fixed when I increased the buffer size to the next value (111). This also resulted in slightly higher, but still "playable" latency.

Good luck. If you learn more, please post.

[bokonon]

So... the lexiconpro site just came back up, and I downloaded the newest ASIO drivers. There are different options in the Cubase control panel now with the new drivers. The result has been a further decrease in latency. I'd say with the old drivers about 18ms, now less than 5ms. It is still there, and I suspect that anyone who says there is "no latency" just doesn't know what they're listening for, but it is barely noticeable and very playable. Lexicon did a good job...

Some people complain about the omega, but I have found it incredibly versitile - both plugged into the computer and as a standalone mixer for a barebones setup.