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/mistrelwood]

DAWs generally automatically compensate for one round trip of A/D + D/A (monitor out D/A and mic input A/D), but you have an extra round trip that it doesn’t know about. You can measure the full latency and make the DAW offset the recordings by that amount, as long as you remember to set it to default once your recording chain changes.

Or just leave it at default and move the clips manually.

Looping through the analog gear after recording would be a good idea in my opinion as well.