Hmmm 13.6 is the total latency reported in Ableton Live. I've struggled to get lower on a few different PCs now with this interface.

aw man, I just bought this as a replacement for my busted USBPre2 that had high latency and low stability in Windows. I really hope I won't continue my suffering with the iD14

Can anybody with Windows 8.1 and the Audient id14 give an updated idea of what to expect? Thanks!

Well, I got it all set up, really excited. Updated firmware and drivers, loaded up a session at 256 samples on PT10 and got crackles galore. Changed to 512 and still crackled. Only stopped it crackling at 1024 samples. Looks like I just don't have luck with interfaces :(

Sorry to hear about your issue, but it isn't standard situation, especially if you have second USB interface, which has very similar performance problem.
It is hard to guess that remotely, but obtainable stability with shorter buffer lengths can be really affected by multitude things. From hardware setup (USB port, power saving at CPU), operating system setup (colliding driver for another hardware like WiFi card or NIC, running antivirus software etc.), through particular DAW (I'm not even sure if ProTools 10 is officially supported at Windows 8.1) and project itself (used plugins, track routing, which can affects DAW capablity to spread the load among multiple cores of your CPU)..
I'm pretty sure, that Audient USB interfaces can be also used with shorter buffer lengths (like 64 or 128s) with real-life projects at reasonable computer configuration..
However searching for the issue and fighting can be sometimes quite time consuming process, because you need to isolate problems causing that.
For the start, I would recommend to watch this video by NI about optimization of Windows computer and solving of DPC issues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnbfVFqkKOA
and additional article Windows Tuning Tips for Audio Processing | Knowledge Base | Support

But if you decide to proceed through this, be methodical, ideally do one step at the time and also be prepared to test it with different DAW (Reaper is great candidate, because it is small, easy to install and possibly can exclude issues with PT).

Michal

Thanks for the advice. The thing is when I use my friend's M-Audio Fastrack 600 I don't have this problem at all, and that is a much older interface.

I have done all the recommended optimisations except for maybe disabling my network driver and of course, reverting to windows 7.

The reason I am disappointed is that I thought that if the M-Audio interface could pull it off, then this one should either match or outperform it.

I will see what I can do before I try a fresh install of W7 on another drive...

I see.. But unless situation is exactly the same as during testing of Fastrack 600, it is hard to draw definitive conclusions from that. Also Fastrack has been done during M-Audio years with AVID (even today, C600 and C400 drivers are provided only by AVID), so it was really meant as cheaper interface for PT with all possible performance and compatibility optimizations for that DAW.
Anyway, testing of clean Win 7 at spare drive is good idea Plus thorough testing of systems with LatencyMon right after essential installation of system (necessary drivers and DAW) really could tell you more. To me.. solving of all possible system issues is just kind of clean table and starting point for testing of performance of any interface.
Good luck with that!

Michal

So update:

Started on a fresh drive, totally clean install of Win7. Did the usual optimisations.

DPC Latency Checker is showing really nice green levels with no spikes, even while playing back audio from PT session.

When I disable my wifi and network cards the highest DPC spikes on LatencyMon is coming from the USB controller to the interface, so I can't improve that anymore than that. I verified by disconnecting the interface and LatencyMon stopped reporting problems from that USB port.

I haven't even installed the nvidia driver for my graphics card yet, just to isolate that cause.

Basically even of medium-size sessions on PT10 I am still getting crackling with the iD14. Even with buffer of 512. The crackling goes away if I disable almost all plugins and CPU usage falls to 50% or below.

The next step I am doing is to try installing my nvidia drivers (without the HD audio driver) and see if that helps anything.

I don't know what USB controller is used at your computer, but with regards to the hardware you might try to install updated driver for it.
Couple of times, I've experienced, the USB 3.0 XHCI driver from Intel website was newer than on motherboard manufacturer site and it improves things a bit.
Anyway, the higher DPC execution times for USB subsystem and drivers, when audio interface is active, is completely normal and expected, that time is proportional to performance of particular audio interface driver.
Also try to look into your BIOS if there isn't possible to disable idle C-States for your CPU. I usually don't need to do that at recent configurations, but maybe it is worth of test. I'm guessing additional installation of Nvidia driver won't help.

Otherwise it looks like problem with PT itself or particular project.. As I've said previously, for me there isn't such thing as typical medium load kind of project, because every project is different and it can't be judged just by overall reported CPU utilization or plugins count. If you overload the main audio processing thread which communicates with ASIO driver, then it typically starts to pop even if overal load is low (like 20%). So for example if you place several demanding plugins with high latency (eg. couple of Ozones) at your master bus, it can't be parallelized to multiple CPU cores and starts to pop. Similarly when some heavy multi-timbral VI with several patches loaded at one instance.. so it is better to spread that to several instances of instrument across multiple DAW tracks.. etc.

As I've mentioned before, I would also advice to get another DAW just for test. Reaper demo is good candidate for those tests IMO. Try to do something similar there, gradually add more processing and check where you can go with that. And if it will be some improvement over PT.

Michal

I have the Id14 and just got a brand new iMac 4.0ghz i7 with 16 gig ram, I'm running at 64 samples with not a single issue or crackle in logic x latest update. I use pretty heavy plugins like Maschine and Omnisphere 2 and loads of sends and busses with plugins on and it runs like a dream, not heard a single crackle or pop.

Logic is reporting 7.2 ms roundtrip and 3.5 ms output

Id love love Audient to bring out a thunderbolt big brother to the id22 with 8 i/o and adat i/o id actually sell 1 of my kids to pre order it if needed

They don't need thunderbolt...they just need to fix the drivers. Sadly it's the ONLY thing I find unappealing about the id line which are otherwise amazing value.

Did you read his description?
Low latency, great performance.

I second that. It's been flawless for me too (on both Mac and PC I might add).

As someone who has generally used RME devices the latency is a big difference.

But it's not just my opinion, you can see how it rates here: DAW Bench : DAW Performance Benchmarking

That said, I still think the id22/14 are great units for the price (probably the best).

If I really needed the lowest possible latency one should get a Thunderbolt interface anyway. The Babyface Pro is fantastic in that regards though, even though I'm not sure if the sound quality is much better for the price.

Hello there Folks,

If anyone is having issues regarding excessive latency or artifacts in your audio with their iD14 then would you be able to get in touch with us directly at [email protected] with a short overview of your system specs?

If there are people having any issues then we of course want to get to the bottom of them for you so you can get back to recording and mixing without worry.

Please also bear in mind that the iD interfaces have two settings for the buffer size and latency and both will affect each other and how your setup performs. For more information about this then please check out this short article:

https://audient.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/202723109

As always, if anyone has any questions at all then please get in touch with us via PM or directly into our support system, [email protected].

Daniel @ Audient UK

I own the Audient ID22, and record at 44.1/24 bit. I have no latency issues. The only time I even hear latency is if I'm in the mix phase with multiple plugin instances, and decided to record/add something. At that point, I reduce my buffer from 1028 (this is where I mix at) back down to 256, and I'm good to go.

I bought the iD14 for the JFET DI, Burr Brown converters and because I needed a portable interface... latency was not a concern but I was floored when I was able to track guitars through Toontrack EZmix's virtual amps without any noticeable latency (I'm talking brutally fast metal guitars).

Logic X on a 2012 Macbook Pro 15 with Intel i7 chip, 16GB memory and SSD.

Hmm so the id14 has the best sound for its price... RME is better, right? Better amp, converters?

Not sure how many people would hear a difference between two quality interfaces. At least I couldn't between the iD14 and iD22, however, there was a noticeable improvement tracking bass, acoustic and a mic'd cab going from a Saffire PRO40 to the iD14.

True, not everybody could hear the difference but i can. Because of the latency problems of the audient im not going to buy it. Maybe its a good piece of gear but hell no i dont wanna fight with my pc/laptop and all that crap of bla bla stories that u need to shut down this and improve that. For me a audio interface must be plug and play with minimal latency and NO driver or compatibility problems. Its so simpel but so difficult to achieve...

If you want all the goodies of good engineered interface with exemplary latency.. plus if just imagination of possible problems already drives you crazy, then you'd likely go with RME, which is IMO best in that regard.
Still nobody will assure you, it won't be necessary to do any optimization of the system for particular task and if any PC will achieve shortest latencies.. there are technical reasons for that and it's like clean table for subsequent low-latency DAW processing.

Michal

Well thnx michal. What i want is to record bass, guitar so i will need good build in preamp and must cost max 500 euro. I will also play with heavy plug ins like reverbs/delays so minimal latency is welkom. RME is for middel segment good. Better then adient? Other brands that produce top mic/line in preamps?

Better than Audient Mic pre's at 500 Euro? No. Except maybe the Tascam UH-7000 but like Audient the latency is on the high side. In fact except for RME most USB 2 interfaces are on the high side of latency. The only other USB interface at low latency are Zoom products which are USB 3. The Steinberg UR44 is under 500 Euro and is USB 2 and has preamps that some would say compete with Audient. If your on a Mac the Focusrite Clarette 4 Pre would be a contender in your price range. That's thunderbolt.

If you want low latency, The best two sets of converters I'm aware of are:

RME QS line. 8 Samples in and out. Very expencive $$$$$
SSL Alpha link series. 53 samples total in-out round trip including the 4 samples for mixing inside soundscape. and more of that is on the in side. Playing samples from disk/ram is like 18 samples of lag.

In both cases, the latency is directly proportional to the sample rate.

Using the SSL alpha link and MX4 under sonar at 96K, 64 buffer setting. Round trip Audio is 1.7 MS reported by ASIO drivers. I'm using MADI between the converters and PCIe card(MX4)

For MIDI I use copperlan/Alysium. 1 ms in and out!

If any others are aware of any converters that are well below 64 samples round trip (allowing me to keep buffers below 64)
I want to know.

Having been a l-o-n-g time RME user in a pro studio, I recently sold the studio, scaled down and decided to go for an id14 mostly because any RME product is too much for what I need now.
Having said that, I didn't what to compromise on sound quality...at all... nor did I want ANY issues with drivers/latency etc under Windows 10. So far, so great ! Awesome sound quality and no issues at all on the driver/latency front. I record my own vox routinely and there is no perceptible latency...even when I'm max'ing out the VSTi's and having to use 2048 buffer setting.

Having a motherboard designed for Audio is key. The quality of the wordclock is also important. It takes a lot of planning to make sound right on a PC. This is why much of the Audio world is Mac.

Sounds like you're on Windows as I've zero issues on a Mac over the years with many audio interfaces. As elegentdrum pointed out, there's a reason why Mac is a choice for musicians and studios worldwide.

Yes i hear u. But im not willing to spend 20.000 for a non professional musician. I record sometime for some guys and thats it. Everytime i thing ho yeah this is the **** something dissapointing comes up... This tascam uh 7000 must be a joy to play with but has no hiZ for e-guitars/bass... So i must use a DI thing... Steinberg ur44 sounds muff and dull compare to a RME babyface.. Oh my god... The more i dig the more i get stuck... I hate this researching

Thanks mate for ur input. But ur the few over the others who have problems with the id14 drivers issues. I dont want to risk of getting again (4 time) an other unit... I want to buy something good and stick with it

Yes with a price tag of 2000 euro... Not my street...