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Latency in synth apps - best/worst performers?
Hey all. So, without formally testing the actual numbers in milliseconds, I was wondering what the consensus was regarding the performance/latency of various synthesizer apps; both those which are excellent, and those which are sluggish. As someone coming from the hardware world, I'll admit that noticeable latency is one of those things that can really destroy my feeling of connection to a synth/how 'real' it feels to me; when a synth app responds adroitly to fast playing, it honestly 'feels' like an extension of my controller keyboard - latency makes it feel more like I'm poking around in the dark. Especially since I like treating my iPad as a 'synth module' a lot of the time - playing live, running it through FX pedals/outboard gear and recording it as I would any of my other synths - I'm always on the lookout for synth apps that are 'playable'; there are a number of apps i love that are basically relegated to pad duties due to latency issues. Anyway, figured I'd ask for the opinions of the forum on this one, while offering a few of my own impressions. (iPad 4, iOS 8.3)
The Good:
Sunrizer - this app has just continually grown on me; i went from initially being 'meh' about it to loving everything about it; the simple yet deceptively flexible single screen interface; the step sequencer and arp; slightly unusual approach to oscillators/filter options; and yeah, LOW LATENCY. I also enjoy the fact that it can handle me tweaking multiple parameters at a time through midi CCs without choking.
FM4 - again, perfectly simple yet complex, and extremely playable and responsive.
Tera Synth - considering the range of shit it can do, I'm impressed at how well it performs.
Laplace - fun, playable physical modeling synth! things like this are the reason I'm glad i have an ipad.
The middling:
Animoog, Arturia iSEM, iMini, Z3TA+ - I can absolutely play all of these without getting pissed off, but there is a tiny bit of noticeable lag even at a buffer size of 256; it doesn't render them unusable, but I notice it when trying to play a rhythmically precise bassline or arp on most of these, and have to adjust just enough that it throws me off.
The bad:
iPulsaret - it's not really the end of the world; granular synths are well suited to pads anyway, and regardless of its problems this is one of my favorite apps ever, and i could come up with weird WAV files to feed it happily for hours. That said, playing any patch with an attack at 0 is pretty much a no go; too bad, because I would love to do some more complicated/rhythmic stuff with some of my patches.
Nave - again, a great synth (I'm a huge waldorf fan in HW too). but I find the latency noticeable enough that it's uncomfortable to play basslines on it, which sucks. Might just be that my ipad 4 is showing its age, since i rarely see complaints about this problem on here.
Mitosynth - probably has something to do with the nature of these more sample-based apps, but again, definitely not responsive for me.
iPolysix, iMS20 - noticeable, annoying latency, especially when run through FX apps in audiobus.
Anyway, these are just my impressions - 'noticeable' latency is obviously a subjective thing - but I'd love to hear your opinions on this, since I feel like it's a vital topic that isn't always discussed in reviews of apps.
Comments
DrumPerfect isn't really bad for latency to MIDI, but the latency in response to pressing things in the app itself has caused me to stop using it more than once. Which is too bad 'cause that's my favorite drum app, otherwise.
@Raised_Eyebrows
I use and enjoy all the apps on your GOOD list. However, poor latency doesn't bother me so much as not being able to use enough synths simultaneously.
Would low-latency synths necessarily use fewer resources thereby allowing you to use more of them at once?
@Raised_Eyebrows - Korg iMS-20 has a 'Low' Audio Latency setting in its Global options. Worth checking that's engaged, since it made a noticeable difference when I tried it, both standalone and with Audiobus.
Compared to the latency I used to get on my PC, at least a full second, I hardly notice it on the iPad - though Gadget on my old iPad wasn't great.
I have a strong feeling that that's the case - nave is definitely resource intensive, for instance, which plays into the slowness i'm perceiving. It doesn't help that nave is slow in every other way too - switching pages in the interface, for instance - just having that delay when i hit the FX tab drives me (unreasonably) nuts.
One thing I guess i should make clear - probably obvious, but I'm speaking about latency when using a midi controller, not via screen/sequencer input. The way in which you use your ipad gear obviously makes a big difference in terms of how much this matters - if you're sequencing stuff it might not be as big of a deal, but when using my ipad as a multifunction HW synth module in my rig (which is mostly analog/hybrid stuff sequenced via MPC1000), latency can be an issue both in live playing and in sequencing alongside other gear.
Just remembered another pretty good one - addictive synth, also pretty non-resource intensive and responsive. Any other suggestions you guys can think of?
I recently went on a cheap synth spree, reasoning that the cheaper the synth the fewer resources it might require. After acquiring my little collection, I paid attention to how long it took for each app to boot up, reasoning that the shorter the boot up time the fewer the resources being used.
I got Sir Sampleton, Phawuo, Egsy01, Nanonlogue, BitWiz, MiniSynthPro. They all boot up very quickly but have various idiosyncrasies. Some are not particularly user-friendly and some have limited pallets, shall we say. I had them all going, plus Thumbjam in Pro Midi. My current favourite is Phawuo, a dirty beast.
I am a keyboard player and i play live so im sensible to latency.
I've bought several apps and some of theme are terribles though other are greats.
BAD :
Korg Ims20 is awful when played from a midi keyboard, cant believe its not more mentioned, it was a waste of money for me.
I have tested Ims20 with an ipad 3 and a retina 2 with 3 different midi interfaces and still the same, bad unless just messing around and not playing anything fast.
Korg gadget, it depends what gadget, not good imo and i would not buy an other Korg app.
-PPG WaveGenerator : is so so , depends of the patch so i use it for pad. If sequenced by, for example my Octatrack, its jerky and not very good (erratic timing). Too bad cause i like the sound very much.
GOOD:
Waldorf Nave is great but crash a lot so i dont use it live.
NeoSoul key is very nice.
Animoog is fine.
DM1 is great.
Impaktor is fine.
@sovietpop - apologies if this is an obvious question, but have you tried Korg iMS-20 with its latency set to 'low' in its Global options menu? As I mentioned in my post above, it made a noticeable difference on my setup. I'm using an Air 2, though, so maybe performance is different for others.
NeoSoul keys has always had terrible latency for me. Enough people like the app that I can't believe they are experiencing the same thing as me, because it's barely playable.
Gadget with an external keyboard is also pretty bad, onscreen it's not as noticeable.
I can honestly say that all of the synth apps I've tried have been fine for playing live from a MIDI keyboard, to the point that I've not really had to think about latency, except for that setting in iMS-20. I usually stack things up in Audiobus and run it at 128 or 256 frames. Feels responsive to me.
This is interesting that some synths respond in different ways to external midi compared to the on screen keybed.
What are you setting the buffer to? It works great for me at lower buffer settings.
I’m struggeling with neo soul keys aswell, ipad mini 5, 48000khz, 64 samplerate. I,m going to have to get another Clav app, because that stuff needs to bounce.
I’m looking for an updated list with the same subject