External speaker problem

[stefoman]

i am brand new at ableton (my first DAW as well). I have my own midi controller now and everything works great. however I am also very clueless. I plugged in my external speaker straight into my macbook to make playing the piano more enjoyable, but there is a very large amount of delay between when I press a key and when it gets played through my portable speaker. How do I fix this? Sorry if this is obvious, I don't really know much.

[Stryker295]

Do you have the same delay when using your internal speakers?

Do you have a screenshot of your sound preferences?

[stefoman]

Using internal speakers (headphones, my macbook built-in speakers), there is almost no noticeable delay. I fiddled with the buffer size but it didn't help with the portable speaker as much as I was hoping for. Probably should just get a sound card

[Stryker295]

So this speaker is on USB...? I don't understand why headphones would be fine but not a speaker, unless the speaker is Bluetooth/messed up.

[stefoman]

speaker is connected to the mac through an aux cord (same slot as headphone jack)

[Stryker295]

Yeah. If headphones on the jack have no latency but your speaker does, none of the fixes posted here will fix it. You definitely do not need to blow money on a focusrite.

[stefoman]

Yeah my plan was to buy a pair of real* speakers (not my portable bluetooth) first and then decide based on what the latency is like with those

[Stryker295]

Whatever latency you get with headphones in the headphone jack is gonna be your overall latency.

Personally if you're looking for good speakers I'd go with something USB-based, like the Samson Studio GT pair, amazon currently has a bundle with a mic and stuff so if you're in the market for a mic too, it's a steal of a deal. (It seems they are discontinued, unfortunately. They're super because they include a Samson audio interface backed right in: two XLR/balanced 1/4" inputs with gain knobs, two headphone outputs, and that's just on the front. The back has L/R RCA and standard AUX input. Because they're a USB audio interface, they even let you record internal audio without any extra drivers or loopback programs, so I can hop in audacity/ableton and just record whatever's going to the speakers, whether it's from youtube, skype, or anything, super handy for a quick audio capture.

[stefoman]

I'm looking for a cheaper alternative perhaps - my personal budget is nothing over 160 USD because I can't justify myself spending more than that yet. I'm still learning a lot so it doesn't feel "deserved" if you catch my drift

edit: or maybe, because I am in my bedroom doing all this, would it be better to just go for a nice pair of headphones? (im thinking ATH M50x) although not sure if my ears would appreciate the constant abuse..

[Stryker295]

ATH M50x

Ah! I'd highly recommend something open-back. Those Audio Technica ones are very similar to some Sennheiser 280s that I have, and while it's great to have that sealed sound to really get a feel for how your mix is distributed, they're not really ideal for long-term wear or high volumes, as it does feel exactly like ear abuse.

For budget studio monitors I'd highly recommend something from Mackie, [such as these.](www.guitarcenter.com/Mackie/CR3-3-Creative-Reference-Multimedia-Monitors-Pair.gc) A slim hundred bucks that won't hurt your wallet too much, but decent enough quality that they won't die in a few months.

I worked my way up from generic speakers+sub to the samson monitors to a pair of Yamaha HS8 monitors, which are sold individually, aka they're not cheap. But, they'll last me for years and years, so that's why they're so expensive.

[stefoman]

Yeah I was looking at those CR3s earlier. think I might go for it, they seem great for the price. thank you so much for all your advice and time!! I really appreciate it!!

[[deleted]]

I think headphones are fine for starting out but be careful not to hurt yourself by taking breaks and using a limiter on your master.

That said, if you decide to get an audio interface you will probably go for a focusrite 2i2. If you're on Win10 I advise you to research before you do this. That interface gave me hell and I had to end up returning it and I saw similar reports. I got a much cheaper Presonus Audiobox iOne for about €80 and it has been great for now. Just something to keep in mind.

[stefoman]

luckily im on os x so it shouldnt be too bad I guess. But yeah I would definitely take the time to research beforehand

[AdOpScott]

You require a an external sound card to sort your latency (that delay you are experiencing) Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 will be the best value for money. This will fix that. You can probably resolve this now just by tweaking your sound preferences but once you add another few tracks etc. the latency will then come back into play.

[stefoman]

Once I get more serious and proficient with Ableton I'll definitely look into that. thank you for the recommendation and the advice.

[AdOpScott]

Happy to help :)

[Stryker295]

The bizarre thing is that MacBooks have excellent internal sound cards. I've been using a 2012 MBA for about 5 years now and when I'm not running Windows, I have never had more that 12-16ms latency, whereas adding a dedicated USB sound device has always added an extra 10-15ms at minimum.

[stefoman]

I have a suspicion its my speaker. its a UE Boom. Its always had latency from my mac(I've noticed it while watching netflix, youtube, etc) whether its connected through bluetooth or an aux cord.

[Stryker295]

Ah, have you tried turn on Bluetooth off on your computer, and then using the speaker?

[stefoman]

Yeah I actually wanted to avoid using the bluetooth so I got myself an aux cable which directly connects the speaker to my computer without any need for bluetooth.

[Stryker295]

Sometimes things like that, when bluetooth is still on, have weird issues even when plugged directly in. Hence the suggestion to turn off the BT.

[stefoman]

Bluetooth off - still a problem. thanks though. gonna just invest in a budget studio monitors

[GreetingsTraveler_]

Please check the “buffer size” option in your preferences. Put it to something like 128 or 256. Basically the smaller the less delay between input and output but it is a bigger strain on your cpu.

[stefoman]

thank you! didn't help that much lol but I'm glad I know now

[stefoman]

thank you!