
Latency from Microphone to Headphone in AoIP Solutions
26-05-2017
Latency has been a hot topic on and off ever since digital audio emerged a few decades ago. The phenomenon, however, is by no means new
In a digital world, the audio you listen to is delayed by a certain amount, which can be caused by a number of factors, but often the delay is so subtle that you will never notice it. In fact the term delay' is precisely what happens when we talk about latency', and audio delay has always existed. Quite simply, sound waves have to travel over distance and it takes time to get from A to B. Period.
When we talk about sounds reinforcement, for example, various speakers are often deliberately delayed by a few milliseconds (ms) to compensate with regard to the listening position, and if we take a strict analog example, latency is there, but has never been encountered as a problem.
On a live music stage, you will often see wedges - or monitors - placed on the floor. They are most likely triangular in shape, designed to play upwards and towards the musician. This is necessary because if the stage is fairly large, the main speakers would be so far away that the artists would experience a very noticeable amount of delay. With monitors nearby, on the other hand, they are perfectly fine. But considering the distance even from the floor and to the ear of the musician, if the distance is 2 meters, there is actually a latency of 6ms.
Traditional' Points of Latency
Now, the above example was strictly analog, but as mentioned, once we started working with digital audio, latency became an issue. So, even before introducing potential latency on an IP-based audio network, it is important to clarify that there are numerous points where latency occurs - in the both the analog and digital domains. Let's take a closer look in the case of a vocal recording in a typical studio environment:
Distance from the vocalists mouth to the microphone - 25cm of distance equals approximately 0.8ms of analog latency.
AD conversion - Filters typically introduce around 20 samples of digital delay, which translates into 0.4ms of latency.
ASIO / DAW - Getting in and out of your DAW also introduces digital latency. Typically 64 samples, which equals 1.3ms in either direction. 2.6ms in total.
Software Plugins - In many cases added plugins will also add to the total latency, but since these are not necessarily added during tracking (latency is less of an issue when mixing, of course), we will not add a specific amount of latency in this example.
DA conversion - Filters typically introduce between 10-40 samples of digital delay. If we use 30 samples as an example, this equals 0.6ms of digital latency.
Monitoring - In this case a vocalist would wear headphones and there would be no analog latency worth mentioning, but if for instance a guitarist or bassist would be tracking in the control room, there would most likely be at least 1-2ms of analog latency from the monitors and to his/her ears.
OK. If we add up those points of latency, you would experience a total of 4.4ms of latency. This would be at a sample rate of 48 kHz, and in case you record at 96 kHz the latency introduced digitally (AD/DA conversion and ASIO/DAW) would be halved. The distance from mount to mic would of course be the same, so in total the latency at 96 kHz would be 2.6ms.
AoIP Latency
Now, let's find out how much additional latency you could expect in case you decide to establish an IP-based audio solution such as Audinate's Dante network protocol.
There is not a fixed value of ms of latency being introduced on a Dante network. It depends on a number of things, including your computer, the amount of switches in the total network, etc. But if you have less than 4 switches in your network, you could likely go as low as 0.25 ms of latency on either side of the ASIO/DAW instance.
In that case, you should add 0.5ms of latency that is caused by the network:
Total latency @48 kHz: 4.9ms
Total latency @96 kHz: 3.1ms
The important thing to keep in mind, though, is that if we look at the percentage of latency introduced by adding IP audio, the difference is very subtle:
Percentage of latency caused by the network:
48 kHz: approx.. 10%
96 kHz: approx. 16%
Conclusion
We think that it is fair to conclude that adding AoIP is not what is going to make or break your recording in terms of latency. It is a myth that you cannot track live performances that need to be monitored in real time on an audio network. It is indeed perfectly possible, and most artists would be completely fine with a latency below 6ms. Again just consider the musician performing live on the stage, listening to monitor wedges on the floor or an amplifier several meters away.
As a closing statement, we would like to stress that the numbers we used in the above examples are not set in stone. They are examples and may therefore vary slightly depending on the manufacturer of the equipment you use, your computer's performance, etc. But we hope that you now have a better idea of how your overall latency would become affected in case you consider - or decide - to move on to the world of networked audio.
Finally, if you would like to learn more about Audinate's Dante protocol, we have compiled 10 of the most commonly asked questions in this article
Even More Details
Our Business Development Manager, Jan Lykke, gave a speech on this very topic at the AES conference and exhibition in Berlin, Germany, in May 2017. If you want even more details, please watch his presentation right here:
Most recent headlines
02/07/2023
Our robust, comparable data provides trusted insights and gives media owners, buyers and planners the power to trade confidently.
ABC members and data subscrib...
02/07/2023
We'll be releasing The next set of ABC audited consumer media data covering the period January to December 2022 on Tuesday 21st February at noon.
When rele...
02/07/2023
We'll be releasing The next set of ABC audited consumer media data covering the period January to December 2022 on Tuesday 21st February at noon.
When rele...
01/05/2023
Our Chief Executive Simon Redlich was recently invited by Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) to share his views on what 2023 might hold. Read what Simon and other...
23/03/2023
Tedial, a provider of media technology solutions, has joined the Google Cloud Partner Advantage program as a technology partner, giving Google Cloud customers e...
23/03/2023
WASHINGTON In his 2023 State of the Union address, President Biden called out corporations for charging what he referred to as junk fees that he estimated cos...
23/03/2023
Samsung has added a number of channels to its Samsung TV Plus offering including Telemundo Regional News Channels in Florida and California and ABC local news s...
23/03/2023
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. & BOCA RATON, Fla. After a lengthy blackout, DirecTV and Newsmax Media, Inc. have finalized a new distribution deal that will return the News...
23/03/2023
TV TECH: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2023 NAB Show?...
23/03/2023
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced a strategic partnership with Integrated Media Technologies, Inc. ...
23/03/2023
Ateliere Creative Technologies will showcase at NAB 2023 (booth W1977) the latest innovations in cloud-native media supply chain management including new innova...
23/03/2023
Victor Wooten Joins Panel on Music, Health, and Spirituality in the Black Commun...
23/03/2023
The Biden administration appears to be in no hurry to withdraw the nomination of Gigi Sohn, its first choice for the third Democratic seat on the five-member FC...
23/03/2023
Fox Television Stations and writers and producers for its WNYW New York have struck a new four-year contract, according to the Writers Guild of America East (WG...
23/03/2023
Cast members have been added for the second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime Video. Ciar n Hinds, Rory Kinnear and Tanya Mood...
23/03/2023
The ABC Owned Television Stations salute their parent company when the 30-minute special Disney100: The Exhibition Making the Magic debuts March 23 on WPVI Phil...
23/03/2023
The Steve Wilkos Show will return for its 17th season in syndication, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios said Tuesday. Steve Wilkos is thus far sold to stations c...
23/03/2023
A new My Little Pony series arrives on Netflix (opens in new tab) March 27, when 10 episodes of My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale premieres. Tell Your Tale continu...
23/03/2023
The House Energy & Commerce Committee's Republican leadership has scheduled the latest Big Tech beating on Capitol Hill and they have signaled it will be fi...
23/03/2023
Disney Junior and Disney Plus debut Kiya & the Kimoja Heroes, about a 7-year-old African girl who transforms her hobbies of dancing and martial arts into superp...
23/03/2023
Local news from NBCUniversal's Telemundo stations will be streaming to users of Samsung TV Plus, the companies said....
23/03/2023
Amazon Freevee released the trailer for original comedy Primo, which premieres May 19. Michael Schur, whose credits include The Good Place and Parks and Recreat...
23/03/2023
Daily devotion: Your bible verse and prayer for 23 March 2023GOOD MORNING! Here's your daily bible verse and prayer to get you ready and excited about your ...
23/03/2023
Rohde & Schwarz HF beyond line of sight communications make vast Norwegian lands...
22/03/2023
One million refugees have been welcomed into Germany since the Russian invasion who aside from being far from home have lost contact with their community and in...
22/03/2023
Sundance-supported Another Body won the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Storytelling at the 2023 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival. Photo by Another ...
22/03/2023
By Stephanie Ornelas
Women continue to break barriers every day, and it's ...
22/03/2023
In MWC Barcelona, operators and authorities discussed how to connect the quarter...
22/03/2023
New report into low-band also completes the association's comprehensive asse...
22/03/2023
We're thrilled to welcome two-time Japanese trial bike champion Tomomi Nishikubo to the team.
Tomomi is known for laying down some truly gravity-defying tr...
22/03/2023
Media Composer Certified Specialist badge...
22/03/2023
UK-based voice artist and voice director Samantha Boffin is using Cleanfeed software to record an audio dramatisation of Jekyll and Hyde, for Evcol Entertainmen...
22/03/2023
At NAB 2023 (booth N2867), Quicklink will demonstrate the AI-enabled STS410 & Cre8, the next-generation video production platform available on premises or in th...
22/03/2023
Zixi, the industry leader for enabling dependable, live broadcast-quality video over any IP network, and provider of the award-winning Software-Defined Video Pl...
22/03/2023
UK loudspeaker manufacturer PMC is showcase its full range of professional monitors on booth 15908 at this year's NAMM exhibition in California, which takes...
22/03/2023
Cooke S4/i lenses capture emotional heart of The Last Of Us
Brie Clayton March 22, 2023
0 Comments
Anticipated HBO adaptation of award-winning video ga...
22/03/2023
nxtedition shows the production workflow of tomorrow at NAB2023
Brie Clayton March 22, 2023
0 Comments
Seamless integration of third-party APIs and AI ...
22/03/2023
Cinedeck Launches New No-code' Media Ingest Processing Tool
Brie Clayton March 22, 2023
0 Comments
Cinedeck has launched Connector, a visual workf...
22/03/2023
Less than two weeks after a jury in Utah ordered Dish Network to pay $469 million in damages after Clearplay sued the satellite TV provider for patent violation...
22/03/2023
The organizers of the Media Tech Sustainability Summit have announced the event's agenda for the two-day event dedicated to sustainability....
22/03/2023
Bad Sisters, The English, The Essex Serpent, and This is Going to Hurt lead the nominations
By Jenny Priestley
Published: March 22, 2023
Bad Sisters, The ...
22/03/2023
The studio will be led by Milk VFX supervisor and Dublin native, Ciaran Crowley
By Jenny Priestley
Published: March 22, 2023
The studio will be led by Mil...
22/03/2023
Densitron, the global leader in display, touch-based interfaces and specialized ODM+ outsourced product design and development for manufacturers, has confirmed ...
22/03/2023
arkona technologies GmbH, provider of IP core infrastructure solutions for top-tier broadcast productions, has closed a large expansion deal with the Australian...
22/03/2023
FingerWorks Telestrators, the leading live telestrator for professional sports and Esports broadcasters, introduces its new FingerWorks Computer Vision softwar...
22/03/2023
Leveraging State-of-the-Art AI Indexing, Journalists Can Find Video Clips of Famous Landmarks in Less Than Two Seconds
Leading AI company Newsbridge announced ...
22/03/2023
CJP Broadcast Services, a leading provider of live sports production, has been selected to provide multi-camera coverage of the UK round of the European Blind F...
22/03/2023
Enhanced Cross-platform Software Application on Display at NAB 2023
Pronology, a developer of cutting-edge broadcast workflow solutions, presents an updated ve...
22/03/2023
Dejero EnGo video mobile transmitters, WayPoint receivers and Control cloud-based management system deliver resilient transmission for live sports production fr...
22/03/2023
NAB demonstration showcases simplified, unified storage platform
High performance media storage specialist ELEMENTS is delighted to share in the centennial ce...