A long time ago in a universe far, far away there was no such thing as latency when tracking. Well to be clear, in the age before we used computers to make music, the delay induced by the CPU doing maths was not an issue.

Then we all moved to DAWs, well, nearly all of us did, and the reward for getting all the flexibilty you can’t get with tape is latency!

Since that time some of the smartest minds on the planet have been trying to give low-latency monitoring when tracking in a DAW. It’s worth pointing out at this point that the term zero latency is a marketing term and not a scientific one. For the time-being, while computers are involved we have to settle, even with Pro Tools HDX hardware, for some latency. It might be almost imperceptable, but it’s still there if you get your tape measure out.

• Zero Latency Audio Is A Myth - Don't Believe The Hype

So to the title, given what has been written so far, how can we claim you can get zero latency when tracking?

In fact, the answer to this technical conundrum is to return to the roots of recording. As we’ve already said, when we tracked to tape through a mixing desk then audio latency was something we didn’t need to worry about. If you want zero latency when tracking, even to a DAW, then get yourself an analogue mixing desk and track through that, effectively using your DAW as a tape machine.

The Workflow

Tracking to a DAW through a console is pretty straightforward, depending on the console, it needn’t be complicated.

There’s two approaches;

1. Use the console for the entire sound of the tracking chain - in this case it’s just a case of plugging in the source and giving them the feed from their mic/s and a feed from the DAW as it plays back the rest of the tracks. You can do this with just a stereo feed and create a headphone send via one of the busses in your DAW.

2. Use the console just as the monitoring source and then treating the recorded sound inside the DAW. For this approach you need to plug in you mic/s and create a split at the source so the mic/s can also be connected to an audio interface of your choice. Then you create a monitor send via the board and a recording chain within the DAW. You still send a stereo feed from the DAW to put the rest if the tracks in the headphones.

In both cases;

• The headphone monitor sends are plugged into the hardware mixing desk and NOT the audio interface.

• Any input that are being recorded must not be in the monitoring path of the DAW. To ensure this is the case simply ensure the monitoring on the record tracks is turned off and is not fed to any monitoring path that is sent to the headphone.

• If you want to add any reverb or delay effects into the headphone monitors that’s still possible using this trick here. How To Use Effects When Tracking In Near-Zero Latency On Any Interface

The Cost

You might be reading this and thinking that an additional mixer is going to add a lot of cost to your studio, well that depends.

If you want to use the mixer for its sound, as in Approach 1, then you are going to have to buy a mixer that has the sound and quality you need. For example if you want an SSL sound then you are going to need to buy an SSL mixer. The good news, and one mixer that is used in the way we are describing, is the SSL Six, a relatively low-cost SSL mixer. Find out more about the SSL Six here. If you need more channels then there’s the bigger SSL Big Six.

In reality, you can spend a lot of money on a high-end analogue console.

At the other end of the price range are the budget mixers, which, if you don’t really need it for the sound, as outlined in Approach 2, then you can pick up one starting at about $100!

The third approach is to consider a second hand mixing desk which can offer you a quality tracking workflow at a reduced price. There’s plenty on the sales sites like eBay and Reverb.

Summary

Sometimes the solution to the most irratating problems are simple. Many top engineers have been taking this approach to tracking in large studios for years. After all, they have a mixer sat in front of them, so why not get the best of both worlds.

Do you take this approach? If so, then let us know in the comments.

Photo by Max Mishin: