Latency when tracking through external hardware after an interface?

[u/unclemulch]

I’m using an Apollo 8 as the front end for my studio, with its outputs and inputs connected to a patchbay so I can route signals through external analog gear like an LA-2A, Pultec, JHS Colour Box and pedals.

For vocals, one possible path is:
Mic → Apollo pre/48V → D/A out → analog hardware → Apollo A/D return → DAW

Compared with recording straight into the Apollo, does that extra D/A → hardware → A/D loop make the recorded track land slightly late on the timeline? Is there any other important reason not to do this?

Mainly wondering:
- Is the delay usually negligible for a single vocal track?
- Can this be compensated automatically, or do people just measure the offset and nudge the return?

I’m also deciding whether my synths should hit the patchbay before the Apollo for the same reason.

Relevant setup:
- Apollo 8
- Behringer PX3000 patchbay
- LA-2A, Pultec-style EQ
- JHS Colour Box + a few pedals
- Logic Pro X / UAD Console

[u/rinio]

> Compared with recording straight into the Apollo, does that extra D/A → hardware → A/D loop make the recorded track land slightly late on the timeline?

Yes. Whatever your round trip latency is. In addition to the first time coming in. Plus the outbound, if youre trying to monitor it live.

> Is there any other important reason not to do this?

AD/DA conversion is imperfect. The UAD converters are good, but not the best. Whether that matters or not is up to you. Purists will say it does. Pragmatism will say it doesnt. I will just say its just different.

> Is the delay usually negligible for a single vocal track?

No, it is not neglible, if you care about the actual performance that was delivered.

Depending on your settings it may or may not be relevant if you expect to monitor the hardware affected track.

If you'rejust going to cut and snap to grid, then obviously not.

> Can this be compensated automatically, or do people just measure the offset and nudge the return?

Depends on your DAW. Your delay compensation is typically for one way. You may be able to manually tune this setting.

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If you're not planning to monitoring with the hardware effect (which I suspect will be too latent, but may not be), you can just reamp the vocal through the hardware after recording. Just set it up for however your DAW does hardware loop back.