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Sonarworks Systemwide and SoundID Reference App Latency Problem

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David Prats Juan Follow
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Hello.

I’ve a Steinberg UR44 audio interface, used with an iMac with macOS Big Sur 11.6.1 and the latest Yamaha USB Driver.

I’ve been trying recently the Sonarworks SoundID Reference App (also the old Sonarworks Reference 4 Systemwide) and I’ve a problem with the plugin when I’m using the UR44 as output.

For some reason, the audio latency is increasing 0.1 ms about every 10 seconds. When I start the plugin it shows a latency about 25 or 30 ms, which is something very acceptable. But after some minutes it has increased to 50 or 60 ms and it continues growing up. In a few hours it can perfectly reach 150 ms of latency which is too much. It happens even when I’ve not other running apps and nothing is playing.

I’ve noticed that this only happens when I’m using the Steinberg UR44 as the audio output in the Sonarworks app configuration, it doesn’t happens if I’m using the built-in output of my iMac.

What could be causing the problem? What I can do?

Thank you!

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    Zane

    Hi David,

    Thanks for reaching out!

    Sorry to hear you are encountering some trouble with climbing latency. For us to further investigate this issue, can you let me know whether you have used a previous version of SoundID Reference and whether the issue was present with it as well? Could you also mention the version of the driver you are using? Just so we have this information clarified, thank you!

    I see you have also opened a support request in regards to this issue and I will follow up with you in it as well for additional information. 

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    David Prats Juan

    Hi Zane,

    Thank you very much for your reply.
     
    About your questions:
     
    1. The issue is only present when using the standalone app, not when using the plugin.
     
    2. The issue is present on both apps: the old Sonarworks Reference 4 Systemwide v4.4.9 Build 11 (which I’ve a License) and SoundID Reference v5.2.1.3 (that I’m trying before buy and it will expire in 17 days).
     
    3. I always used the plugin version since I’ve a license. I was trying recently to use the standalone app so I can't be sure if it worked or didn't work well in older versions.
     
    4. I experienced some noises only once, curiously each time I was hitting any key of my iMac wireless keyboard. But I’ve not been able to reproduce this again, so I hope it was something punctual.
     
    5. I’m using a Steinberg UR44 audio interface with the latest Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver v3.0.5 available for my interface. I’ve also tested the new Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver v3.1.1 with the same results (although with this drivers my interface it’s not officially supported it works).
     
    6. The latency seems stable when I’m using other devices as output in Sonarworks. I’ve tried with the built in output of my iMac and a Dell AC511 USB SoundBar and the latency seems stable and not changing too much.
     
    7. The values showed in Latency Sources tab are always stable (Internal Processing 0.0 ms / Output Device 0.8 ms) except “Internal Buffer” which is causing this continual increase in latency each few seconds when using the Steinberg UR44 as the audio output.
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    Zane

    Hi David, thanks for your update here! I see you have also updated the support request with this information and I have followed up as well to gather a bit more details. 

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    Tom Higham

    Hi guys,

    David, was this ever resolved for you? I've been having the exact same issue for quite some time now. Every one of your 7 points is identical to me, except i'm on a late 2015 Macbook Pro and using an Audient iD44. It showed up in the 4.4.9 release of Reference 4 (i've legacy installed 4.4.8 and it doesn't have the same problem). I had thought it must have been an internal buffer issue with the interface, but obviously not. It's super annoying because I'd like to be able to use SoundID but the latency is a major problem.

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    Tom Higham

    oh by the way, same issue on my iMac. similar age. Both systems running iOS 10.14.6 (Mojave)

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    David Prats Juan (Edited )

    Hi Tom,


    No, unfortunately it has not been solved. I've installed several different versions (recently 5.3.0, the latest available now since some days ago) and stills occurring the same. So, I can't use SoundID Reference in standalone mode, only as a plugin.


    I'm running now on latest version of macOS Monterey 12.4, but nothing changed.

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    Zane

    Hi Tom and David,

    Thanks for your comments!

    Unfortunately, we have not tackled this issue yet, but I hope we can have some improvements available in the near future.

    @Tom, I see that your support request, although submitted some time ago now, is also linked to a development task. We will make sure to follow up once there are any developments on this. 

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    Tom Peters

    Hi, another Tom, with the same problem coming in! 

    I've just installed my new laptop, and have the same issue using the APO mode. 
    Where can I send extra info about my configuration to solve this? 

    Regards Tom

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    Zane

    Hi @Tom Peters - my apologies for the belated attention to this! I do see you have submitted a support request with our team already, so we'll make sure to look into your reported issue. Thank you! 

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    p-vombruck

    I have the same issue and it is so annoying...

    (Macbook Air M1, Motu M2 Audio Interface, Adam t7v, Mac OS Ventura)

    I've tried every Sample Rate + Buffer combination.... but the Issue is still there.

    I really liked your work at Sound Reference but this Latency issue have to be fixed very soon! 

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    pkrystian.k

    Hello,

    I experience the exact same issue on macos ventura with an apogee symphony desktop audio interface. The internal buffer just keeps climbing from a normal 15ms to an unusable 150ms regardless of system audio configuration, open audio programs or audio device settings (though changing the sampling rate of my audio interface does reset the internal buffer, then it starts adding up again). This issue is on both the release version (5.7.2.8) and the legacy (5.2.3.2). Is there any solution to this? I'm also opening a ticket.

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