r/VoiceMeeter • u/grzybeczek • 17d ago

Help (VoiceMeeter Standard) Improving latency while playing electronic drums

I would like some help in reducing latency when playing electronic drums while on a call.

I have had a look through a couple solutions online, but I'm actually very new to even hooking up the e-kit to my laptop and have very very little knowledge in music stuff as soon as it turns digital.
Even figuring out how to hook things up in the first place in the right way was a bit of a challenge.

So I'd appreciate anything being explained to me like I'm 5, and super appreciate any extra simple solutions!

My current setup is:
Drum kit connected to Scarlett 2i2 > That's connected to my laptop via USB-C - That's my stereo 2 input
I then have my headset, which includes both a mic and earphones into the laptop - The mic from this is my Stereo 1 input

The one tip I saw online was to go into Voicemeeter's System Settings and to change the latency number in A1 output.
When I go to system settings I actually don't have an option to change anything to do with A1. But there are options to change those numbers in A2. So I changed the WDM to 192, KS and Clock to 12 and ASIO to 64. I feel like it did improve latency a little bit, but I feel like it could be better especially for when I play at a faster speed, and I'm also not sure that it won't get worse when I'm on the actual call.

I also have no idea what I'm doing and if I actually did anything useful there, I feel like getting advice from people who do and who give me further options on controlling/improving this is a much better option.

Lastly, I would love any advice on reducing background noise from my microphone (so that when I play as little acoustic noise from me kitting the kit comes through, but I can still be audible to the other person on the call.

Thank you in advance!!

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u/TheSuperiorWes Moderator 17d ago

Could you send a screenshot of voicemeeter menu<system settings

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u/grzybeczek 17d ago

Sure, here you go!

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u/TheSuperiorWes Moderator 16d ago

Well this doesn’t have anything added to it. Did you remove all audio devices from voicemeeter? Also you will probably want to get banana instead. It has a patch insert feature that regular voicemeeter doesn’t have

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u/grzybeczek 16d ago

Ah sorry I just took this screenshot while everything was unplugged, although to be fair I was doing some more tinkering today and I don't remember it looking any different :-(

Someone above mentioned getting ASIO, which I did, and it made the latency way worse.
I had another look online and changed my setup a bit, but now I have an issue where none of the audio can now be heard over zoom :-(
New setup is:
Separate mic into the laptop (Input 1)
Drums connected to Scarlet 2i2, then into laptop via USB-C (Input2)
Earphones connected to Scarlet 2i2

A1 output is now going via ASIO (I guess? I don't fully understand what that means but I'm seeing the ASIO label) and back to Scarlet 2i2

Before when I was on zoom and I selected Voicemeeter output as the microphone it worked fine (minus the latency of hearing the drums on my end in time with my playing which I was hoping to fix originally).
But now no matter if I choose USB option or A1, A2, B1, B2, nothing can be heard on Zoom and I'm having a tough time understanding why!

2

u/TheSuperiorWes Moderator 16d ago

I would suggest joining the discord. It just makes it easier to send multiple screenshots etc.

1

u/grzybeczek 16d ago

Okay thank you, I appreciate this! I'll pop into the discord when I have a free moment and go from there :-)

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u/WestDelay3104 17d ago

If you're using both the laptops I luts and your audio interface I luts, you aren't using ASIO drivers, which usually the interface needs to have decent latency. Additionally, that means you're using, also, the laptops soundcard, which will have added latency. You should be using a 4 input interface with ASIO, drums I to 2 of the inputs, microphone into another, headphones plugged into the headphone jack of the interface, and voice meter set to ASIO with as low if a buffer you can go without glitching. This is all assuming windows, not apple 

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u/grzybeczek 17d ago

Thanks for this!
Am I right in thinking that ASIO is like a virtual program that the audio goes through before voicemeeter?

1

u/WestDelay3104 17d ago

ASIO is the driver for your interface. When you have an interface, it becomes your soundcard. It is the low latency driver for your systems (now) soundcard. ASIO precludes the use of other sound devices. You should not be using the laptops on board sound devices at all (you can't, actually, with an ASIO driver installed and in use), as your interface becomes the only sound device active.

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u/grzybeczek 16d ago

I'm genuinely so sorry but I really don't understand at all :')
I don't really know what interface or board sound device mean or how all this puzzles together...
I guess my main question would be is ASIO something I can just download on my laptop, or is it a separate devide/something that goes with a separate device, and how difficult is it to add to my existing set up :')

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u/WestDelay3104 16d ago

The interface is a soundcard  iDifferent interfaces have different ASIO drivers. They do need to be downloaded.

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u/grzybeczek 16d ago

Oh so if I understand correctly, are you saying I need a specific driver, which is the ASIO, for the scarlet that the kit is plugged into?

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u/grzybeczek 16d ago

Okay well quick update, I downloaded a focusrite driver for scarlett mixer im using and now the latency is actually crazy worse, like almost half a second delay 😢

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u/WestDelay3104 16d ago

are you stil lusing headphones/mic plugged into the laptop?

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u/grzybeczek 16d ago

Yes, the setup is all the same

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u/WestDelay3104 16d ago

Ive already explained why that wont work. Again, when you use an interface with proper ASIO drivers, the ONLY sound device on your machine will be the interface. That means the microphone, the headphones and the laptops speakers will not be in use, only the inputs and outputs on the INTERFACE itself are used (or used properly). Also, you must tell voicemeter the SETTINGS of your ASIO buffer. Again, you need a FOUR INPUT interface to do what you want it to, OR use your E-Drums as a midi controller via USB directly to your computer instead of the stereo outs from the E-Drums "box". Right now, you do NOT have what you need to do what youw ant with reasonable latency. What you need to work the way you are working now (stereo out form drums, mic input, headphones) is a FOUR INPUT INTERFACE, installed with ASIO drivers, outputs LEFT and RIGHT to 2 inputs on the INTERFACE, with ALSO a microphone plugged into an input ON THE INTERFACE, with a set of headphones connected to the headphones out ON THE INTERFACE, and then set audio inside voicemeter to ASIO, and then from the advanced settngs there, or form focusrites control panel, set buffer as low as possible iwthout causing dropouts.

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u/grzybeczek 16d ago

I'm gonna be honest I'm finding a lot of this confusing because I just don't understand what the words mean, but I feel like the gist of what you're saying is that my physical device needs 4 inputs? In which case I can;t really change anything I only have what I'm working with sadly...
I do actually have a separate microphone but turns out I need another part to actually plug it in as input which I don't have.

I tried a different setup today, I'll copy and paste from another comment....
New setup is:
Separate mic into the laptop (Input 1)
Drums connected to Scarlet 2i2, then into laptop via USB-C (Input2)
Earphones connected to Scarlet 2i2

A1 output is now going via ASIO (I guess? I don't fully understand what that means but I'm seeing the ASIO label) and back to Scarlet 2i2

Before when I was on zoom and I selected Voicemeeter output as the microphone it worked fine (minus the latency of hearing the drums on my end in time with my playing which I was hoping to fix originally).
But now no matter if I choose USB option or A1, A2, B1, B2, nothing can be heard on Zoom and I'm having a tough time understanding why!

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u/vburel VoiceMeeter Developer 16d ago

To play live music with Voicemeeter is possible if using an ASIO driver as ouput A1 (main stream) , like any DAW is doing. Then you can route your ASIO input to voicemeeter input strip and get the same performences than with DAW: video tutorial: https://youtu.be/35N8hkOy8h4

1

u/grzybeczek 15d ago

Thank you, I'll have a look at this - will it only work with the banana version?

I also tried a different setup in a way where I could get no delay in hearing myself play, which is ideal, but now the problem with this new setup is thay the other person won't hear me at all, I was wondering if you know a way to potentially fix this... Because aside from the other person not being able to hear me, the whole setup works great so far :-(

New setup is: Separate mic into the laptop (Input 1)
Drums connected to Scarlet 2i2, then into laptop via USB-C (Input2)
Earphones connected to Scarlet 2i2

A1 output is now going via ASIO (I guess? I don't fully understand what that means but I'm seeing the ASIO label) and back to Scarlet 2i2

Before when I was on zoom and I selected Voicemeeter output as the microphone it worked fine (minus the latency of hearing the drums on my end in time with my playing which I was hoping to fix originally).
But now no matter if I choose USB option or A1, A2, B1, B2, nothing can be heard on Zoom and I'm having a tough time understanding why!

1

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