SD3-TD50 latency

[pro audio]

Hello everyone, I use SD3 with my roland td 50, i have a pc with intel i7-6700hq, 8gb of ram and a focusrite 2i4 sound card (2gen).In the last days I tried to reduce the latency because it was always above 8ms. I tried to connect only with the td50 (set to vendor) with the usb cable but the maximum I reached was 6.8ms (96 buffer size and 48kHz sample rate). Yesterday I tried to connect the td50 (set to generic) directly to the pc with the usb cable and the sound card also with the usb cable with the following settings: 96Khz sample rate and 96 buffer size. The result was a buffer latency of 1ms and an output latency of 2,5. I was impressed and so far I had no problems at all. So my question is this: with these settings is the sound quality of the superior drummer somewhat affected? I’m not very experienced with these things so I’ll be happy to know if I’m doing it right and I don’t risk damaging the PC or the program. Thank you!

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.7
Operating system: Windows 10

Topic

[Jim Schwab]

Hello Giulio Piane,

I had a similar problem and eventually wrote a how to setup RolandTd50 with SD3 on a Windows PC.  I hope this helps if you haven’t already found a solution.

This works for me.  I run SD3 and Presonus Studio one 4 plus video editing software at the same time. Ram usage in SD3 is usually around 3GB.

PC is a HP Z book G6 i7-9850H Win1 10 Pro

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.7
Operating system: Windows 10

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Thanked by: pro audio

[pro audio]

Oh cool, thank you. I’ll try your method and let you know if it works. Anyway my question was: with those settings is the sound quality of sd3 affected and/or can I damage the program or pc? Thanks everybody.

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.7
Operating system: Windows 10

[Vindes]

You’re not going to damage anything by setting your sample rate to 96Khz and running 96 samples, but I can’t imagine a reason why that would be necessary.

You should have the exact same latency at 48Khz and 48 samples and your computer won’t have to strain as much to do it.

At various times I had problems with Superior 3 and the drivers for my own Focusrite Scarlett interface.  Make sure you get and install the latest Focusrite drivers.  The problem I had, when I had it, was that there are multiple places to set sample rate and number of samples.  You can set it through Superior Drummer, or you can set it through the Focusrite configuration icon in the icon tray.  Sometimes I’d set it in Superior, and even though it appeared to be set where I wanted it the Focusrite driver would revert back to something like 44.1Khz and 512 samples.

I would not recommend installing ASIO4ALL with the Focusrite interface.  ASIO4ALL is really only useful for audio interfaces that don’t natively support ASIO.

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.7
Operating system: Windows 10

SD3; Reaper; Roland TD25; Win10

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Thanked by: pro audio

[pro audio]

Ok, DrumRoll4455 I love you. Everything works great, I’ve the same buffer and output latency as when I use my audio interface with those settings and so far I haven’t had any problems. So, now with asio4all drivers is the sound quality of sd3 affected in any way? (maybe less latency but low quality) Thank you man.

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.7
Operating system: Windows 10

[pro audio]

I have one more question. If I use an external hard drive for sd3, is my performance with the e-drum affected? I have read that it is not recommended to have other usb devices connected. Thanks everybody.

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.7
Operating system: Windows 10

[Scott]

pro audio wrote:

I have one more question. If I use an external hard drive for sd3, is my performance with the e-drum affected? I have read that it is not recommended to have other usb devices connected. Thanks everybody.

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.7
Operating system: Windows 10

All samples load into RAM, so where they are stored (internal drive or external drive) won’t make a difference on playback, just how fast they load into RAM to begin with.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

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Thanked by: pro audio

[pro audio]

Hi Scott, first of all thank you for the quick reply. Yes, I knew that once the files were loaded into the RAM it didn’t change anything if it’s an external or internal HD. But I have read in some forums that it is recommended to unplug other usb devices so as not to affect performance in any way. I don’t know if this is true. Thanks again.

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.7
Operating system: Windows 10

[DutchDoctor]

If you get a drop in audio quality you’ll definitely know about it. It won’t be a subtle change, either it works or it doesn’t.

When it starts to fail you’ll get clicks and pops and stutters and whatnot. This can happen if your buffer is too low for your system, or if other hardware or software are interupting your DAW from processing audio.

Bottom line, if it’s working, it’s working.

[Author]

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