Is there any way to decrease latency other than changing the I/O buffer

Question

Hello,
I'm recording with two presonus firepods linked together. which allow for me to record up to 16 track at a time. I'm noticing some latency that makes it somewhat hard to record with. I do not want to lower the buffer for fear of intruducing distortion. is there any other way to lower latency levels in logic? If not would switching to a different interface help? if so, which one can you recamend?
thanks

Answer 1

After you've determined the smallest possible buffer setting for your system to run properly, the easiest way to achieve a minimal latency system from that point on is to have an external mixer for monitoring the audio you're recording. This way you're don't have to monitor audio thru your DAW software.
Apparently, software monitoring latencies are getting better (see the extensive thread/debate about the Symphony system on this forum -- search for "Symphony"). The only reason you'd need to use software monitoring is if you use plug-ins on the input channel(s) of what you're recording. Otherwise, software monitoring of audio thru your DAW does nothing but add latency (delay) to your monitored signal, as well as cause you to go prematurely gray in trying to deal with it.
I believe the Firepods are FW devices, and if so, there could be not only an increased amount of latency over, say, PCI-based systems, but the amount of latency might be variable every time you boot your system (there are extensive threads about this phenomenon on this forum -- do a search and you'll find them). If you're experiencing this, it is probably due, in short, to problems with the way the FW drivers are written.
I have a PCI-based system (MOTU, PCI-e 424) and putting arguments over whether MOTU stuff sounds the same, better, or worse than any other audio interface, this kind of system never experiences random changes in latency.
The other thing you must do is calibrate your recording delay. Again, with certain FW systems you might have to do this each time you boot your system. But I can tell you that with the card-based system I'm using, my latency and hence my recording delay settings never change, and I can be assured that what I record plays back in exactly the right spot every time.
BTW, the recording delay can be adjusted by using a simple looback test (again, there are numerous threads on this forum which explain how this is accomplished).