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LatencyMeasurements

I did latency measurements with the following digital audio products

• Digico SD8
• Digico SD10
• Soundcraft Si2
• Yamaha CL series
• Yamaha M7CL
• Yamaha LS9
• Yamaha DM2000
• Behringer X32

more to follow...

why?

Processing audio with digital signal processors always causes latency - a delay the processor needs to perform the calculations. In a complex environment like a mixing console there are different paths a signal can be routed along on its way from the input to a output. Depending on the number of DSPs on this way the latency may vary.

The most obvious example is using an internal subgroup to compress some grouped channels. If you happen to route both, the original channel and the subgroup to the same master you will notice a strange flanging sound. This is called a comb filter as the differing latencies between the two paths will cause interference.

In a sound reinforcement situation, using different outputs of the mixer to drive the parts of the system the summing interferences might happen acoustically as your speakers are getting their signals with differing latencies.

An example: for 2 correlated signals a latency difference of 1ms leads to the first notch filter at 500Hz, a difference of 0,1ms moves that to 5kHz.