Cockos Incorporated Forums - View Single Post - How difficult could it be to get low enough latency on Linux?

Nuri · 01-31-2019, 08:33 AM

@ LieMFB:

you're opening the Pandora Box...
Look at this (long) thread:
https://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic...9517b14da0a0c5

For me, "low latency" means 128 samples buffer and below.

The first tweaks to get the best results are OS independent and begin in the UEFI/BIOS settings of your PC. Don't forget it!

Currently, I think a pure Debian distro with RT-kernel (not a "low latency" kernel) should provide the best results.

At this time, there is no official guide lines to tweak a Linux OS for best low latency performance. And this is a problem!
If you're lucky, you can achieve very good performance without to much tweaks in the OS.
The overall result depends on UEFI/BIOS settings, OS type, kernel type, OS config, desktop environment, audio interface, data bus for audio streams (USB, PCI, PCIe, Firewire...), number of tracks in your DAW, virtual instruments or not, number of VST plugins...
Thousands of parameters are involved...

In my case, I've got better results with Win10.
For Win10, I now know that UEFI/BIOS settings were the most important when it comes to low latency.

Good luck!

01-31-2019, 08:33 AM	#10
Nuri Human being with feelings Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 15	@ LieMFB: you're opening the Pandora Box... Look at this (long) thread: https://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic...9517b14da0a0c5 For me, "low latency" means 128 samples buffer and below. The first tweaks to get the best results are OS independent and begin in the UEFI/BIOS settings of your PC. Don't forget it! Currently, I think a pure Debian distro with RT-kernel (not a "low latency" kernel) should provide the best results. At this time, there is no official guide lines to tweak a Linux OS for best low latency performance. And this is a problem! If you're lucky, you can achieve very good performance without to much tweaks in the OS. The overall result depends on UEFI/BIOS settings, OS type, kernel type, OS config, desktop environment, audio interface, data bus for audio streams (USB, PCI, PCIe, Firewire...), number of tracks in your DAW, virtual instruments or not, number of VST plugins... Thousands of parameters are involved... In my case, I've got better results with Win10. For Win10, I now know that UEFI/BIOS settings were the most important when it comes to low latency. Good luck!