Audio latency calculator
What does a 256-sample buffer actually cost you? Milliseconds, round trip, and the same delay expressed as distance.
One buffer
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Round trip (in + out)
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Same as standing this far away
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How it works
buffer latency (ms) = buffer size ÷ sample rate × 1000
round trip ≈ 2 × buffer latency + converter and driver overhead
round trip ≈ 2 × buffer latency + converter and driver overhead
A 256-sample buffer at 48 kHz is 5.3 ms. Monitoring through the computer passes through an input buffer and an output buffer, so it's at least 10.7 ms before converters and drivers add their share.
The color guide (under 10 ms comfortable, 10–20 ms noticeable, over 20 ms a problem) is a common rule of thumb.
The overhead field is for the figure your interface reports. Many drivers show a total round-trip number in their control panel or in the DAW's settings.
Field notes
- Small buffers while tracking, big ones while mixing. Players feel latency; plugins need processing time. Switch the buffer to suit the job.
- Think of it as distance. Sound travels about 1.1 ft per millisecond. 10 ms of latency is like standing 11 ft from your amp, which many guitarists barely notice.
- Singers are the most sensitive. They hear their own voice through their skull at zero delay, so even a few milliseconds in the headphones combs against it and sounds phasey. Direct monitoring helps most here.
- Doubling the sample rate halves the latency of the same buffer size, at the cost of twice the processing load.
- Direct monitoring sidesteps it entirely. If the interface can route inputs straight to the headphones, the performer hears zero computer latency.