[PD] Windows low latency first-hand experiences?

[Roman Haefeli]

On Sat, 2009-02-21 at 17:28 +0100, Matteo Sisti Sette wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I've already browsed the archives and found some helpful information 
> about getting low latency in Windows with PD.
> 
> Now i'd love to hear about anyone who has been able to get as low as 
> 15-20ms latency in Windows using PD, without getting glitches, 
> preferably in Vista and with external hardware, such as USB or firewire 
> cards.
> [not that I prefer Vista over XP, but I just happen to have it installed 
> on my new laptop, so if I can get what I need without installing another 
> OS it would be better for me]

i haven't checked on vista, but the rme hdsp hardware behaves very well
on winxp (and on linux and most likely on vista as well) . i have a rpm
myself, and i can easily go under 15ms. it's been a while, i tried the
last time on win xp, but when i set it to 3ms latency, i could achieve a
roundtrip of ~7ms. i think, even 1.5ms still works.

> Any positive or negative experience is welcome; a positive 
> easy-to-reproduce experience is what I'm looking for.

with the hdsp hardware, you are on the more secure side, though it is
not the cheapest choice.

> Also, if the same can be achieved with some relatively-newbie-friendly 
> almost-out-of-the-box GNU/Linux distribution, it may be worth trying...

check the alsa page for supported hardware and maybe ask on #alsa on
irc.freenode.net. in my experience, the most hasslefree approach was
usually to install jack and start pd with '-jack'. personally, i find
ubuntu very easy to install. from zero to a fully working audio box (for
example for an art installation) i find ubuntu to be the fastest to set
up (though debian might be similar, since ubuntu is only a flavor of
debian).

i would like to encourage you to go the linux route, since it might be
more fun, if you get everything working. in the worst case, you lose
time (not money), in the best case you get the best performing setup.
also, if you face problems, there usually are ways to solve them. when
using proprietary OS/software/drivers, i found it sometimes hard even to
narrow down the source of the problem and you are dependent on some
company and their willingness to fix the problem. 
if it comes to optimizing your system for audio/pd use, ask again on the
list.

roman

  


	
		
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