Audio latency in Arena 6 vs. Arena 5

[psensibil]

After endless troubleshooting and failure with my previous audio interface in trying to get Arena 6 to properly recognize its ASIO capabilities, I decided to upgrade my Roland Edirol UA-25 and get a Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6. My hope was that a more modern device would have no issue in integrating with the new software.

This was at least half correct. The new device fixed the issues I kept experiencing in Arena 5 (which is what I'm still using at live shows because of these issues) AND it seems that Arena 6 can recognize the new device's ASIO! So far, so good. However, I've noticed very different results in the two programs' behavior with its latency. Arena 5 is giving me nearly latency-free input. You can watch the waveform react wildly to the input and it's giving me the peaks and valleys of the input in real time. It is also allowing me to choose left and right inputs as a single external FFT which is fantastic because I often hook up two ambient mics at shows and run them straight into Arena for maximum reactivity.

This is NOT the case in Arena 6. The waveform behaves in that slow-mo way that would be typical of my Windows Audio or DirectSound options even though it is using ASIO. That means peaks don't fall as quickly and it does not react as closely to real time as Arena 5. What further confused me is that it will only allow me to select individual inputs (left or right instead of left and right).

So, even with applying the exact same settings (other than stereo vs. mono) in the two programs, they behave totally differently. The way in which I build my sets is VERY reliant on real-time reactivity and I have been super disappointed that I haven't been able to fully utilize and experiment with Arena 6 since its release. I was hoping purchasing a new interface would solve my problems, but it has only extended my confusion and frustration.

Any help at all would be so incredibly appreciated. Even a nudge in a direction that could help me troubleshoot further would mean so much because I'm all out of ideas. I am happy to answer any questions about my set up.

System specs:
Windows 10 64-bit
Intel i7-7700K at 4.8ghz
32GB RAM
Nvidia GTX 1080
NI Komplete Audio 6

[Daniel]

Hey psensibil!

Thx for contacting us. I've taken a look at the issue with my colleague who works on the audio within Resolume.

Our first question:
If you go to view -> Show FFT Gain
A new element should appear in the interface next to the Record button

fftgain.jpg (6.76 KiB) Viewed 10462 times

Turn up the gain. Is the waveform also slow in here? The waveform should be "spastic" or does have it a falloff in here as well?

Second Question:
Try to play an audio track within Resolume itself. How does it sound? Does it sound normal or does it distord in one way or another?

[dig65]

Hoping you'll also address OP's question re: stereo inputs being treated as individual mono inputs (and not allowing the user to select a stereo pair). I have this same problem, and have not found a way to fix it.

All other audio software on my computer treats the stereo pair correctly.

[psensibil]

Hi, Daniel. Thank you so much for taking the time to address this issue.

The new FFT element seems to be displaying my waveform in the "spastic" way you describe. It resembles the type of visual cue I'm accustomed to seeing in the effects' FFT waveform. That's really interesting. As before, the waveform being produced in the preview of my effect's FFT is not behaving in this way.

Placing several WAV files into my composition, I did have to drop the playback speed to about 0.87 to get the right speed, but the audio quality itself is on point.

[Daniel]

Hey psensibil,

Sorry for the late reaction. It is indeed very strange what is happening.

By any chance you can make a little video of how it looks like?
Can you make a screenshot of your audio setting within Resolume?
There should be a button in the preferences tab with the button "Configure.."
Could you make a screenshot of that as well?

[Daniel]

Hoping you'll also address OP's question re: stereo inputs being treated as individual mono inputs (and not allowing the user to select a stereo pair). I have this same problem, and have not found a way to fix it.

All other audio software on my computer treats the stereo pair correctly.

I've made a ticket for this! We will look into it!

[psensibil]

Hey psensibil,

Sorry for the late reaction. It is indeed very strange what is happening.

By any chance you can make a little video of how it looks like?
Can you make a screenshot of your audio setting within Resolume?
There should be a button in the preferences tab with the button "Configure.."
Could you make a screenshot of that as well?

It's no problem at all, Daniel! I know the team has its work cut out for them with this release. As frustrating as it can be on this end, I'm thankful I still have a totally usable software in Arena 5 and appreciate the work you are putting in to resolve issues like these. I'm happy to play my part in the process.

In this gallery, you will find the requested screenshots-
https://imgur.com/a/gecCK

Video (sorry for handheld wobbles)-
https://youtu.be/ZBIOn8k6mgs

Please let me know if you would like to see anything else and I will get it to you as soon as possible.

[Daniel]

We think everything is working just fine as far as we can see it. Our only question is; did you ever touch the fall parameter? Turn it all the way down and it will react similarly to the FFT Gain.

Does this fix your problem?

[Zoltán]

Placing several WAV files into my composition, I did have to drop the playback speed to about 0.87 to get the right speed, but the audio quality itself is on point.

Are you using another audio app on your system together with Resolume?
0.87 is about the value you'd need to slow down audio in Resolume when you have set 44.1k in Resolume audio preferences, and start another app with the same audio device set to 48k.

But then again, how are you using 2 devices with the same ASIO hardware...?

[psensibil]

Daniel,

You may be correct in this assumption. The composition was created in Arena 5 and I'm pretty certain the fall was adjusted. I'll test and see if this is the case once I get back to my system.

Zoltan,

Typically when practicing, I do use a separate media program for playback as opposed to playback directly from Resolume. Previously, I had used a "Digital In" function on my old interface that read computer output as an external input. Because this function is not present on my new interface, I create a physical loopback with 1/4" cables from my analog out back into my input on the front of the device. At live shows, I plug mics directly into my inputs, so using this method keeps me from having to change each effect's settings from Comp to External. This allows me to maintain my settings in both contexts. It is definitely possible that my audio program is set to 48k. It is not something I have checked before- just purely ignorance on my end. I hope this makes sense and I understood your question correctly.