
- #APPLE MAINSTAGE VS ABLETON LIVE DRIVERS#
- #APPLE MAINSTAGE VS ABLETON LIVE DRIVER#
- #APPLE MAINSTAGE VS ABLETON LIVE PRO#
Step 6 onward can be applied to playing a VST instrument as well. Finally, the electrical signal is routed to the audio interface’s line and headphone outputs for monitoring.This conversion process typically takes around 0.5ms. The digital signal is sent to the audio interface’s DAC (digital to analog converter), where it is converted back to an electrical signal.

The digital signal is sent to your RME audio interface over USB.
#APPLE MAINSTAGE VS ABLETON LIVE PRO#
The digital signal is sent from Pro Tools to the USB bus via your RME interface’s audio driver.The digital signal is sent from the USB bus to Pro Tools via your RME interface’s audio driver.

#APPLE MAINSTAGE VS ABLETON LIVE DRIVERS#
Other higher end companies like RME and Universal Audio have proprietary software drivers tuned for maximum performance and efficiency Some companies use MacOS’ Core Audio driver, which wasn’t created specifically for professional use.
#APPLE MAINSTAGE VS ABLETON LIVE DRIVER#
In short, a driver is software that is responsible for transporting audio to different places inside your computer. The big differences in latency has almost everything to do with an audio interface’s software drivers. As you can see, the latency drops even further to 7.0 ms. Even though this product wasn’t designed for pro audio work, it still performs much better than the MacBook Pro’s built-in sound card - 7.9 ms versus 23.3 ms.įinally, this screenshot shows the latency of my RME Babyface, a professional audio interface for music production and performance.

The screenshot below shows the latency of my JDS Labs O2+ODAC, a popular DAC/headphone amp combo in the audiophile world. A VST output latency of 23.3 ms is simply unusable for live performance. While this is a top of the line machine for music production work, the audio driver quality is actually severely lacking. The screenshot below shows the latency of the built-in sound card in my 2016 15″ MacBook Pro. Your computer’s built-in sound card is perfectly fine for casual music listening, but it’s most definitely not suited for any serious music production or performance work. Selecting the proper audio interface can have a drastic effect on VST latency.
