Latency when using TI Snow as OS soundcard

    Yo! I've been using my TI Snow as my system soundcard but am experiencing latency issues when I'm not running any DAW. I get latency pops and crackling almost continuously when using Spotify, iTunes, VLC, etc.


    Is there any way of setting the buffer when not using a DAW? I set it to 512 samples in Ableton but am not noticing any difference. I'm not getting these problems when running the internal soundcard. Maybe the buffer size isn't even the problem?


    Running OSX 10.8.3, late 2009 MBP Unibody, 2.26 Ghz Intel Core 2 Due, 8GB 1067 MHz DDR3.


    Thank you :)

    Friendly bump. It seems like this happens almost every time I alt-tab from Spotify to Chrome and back.. doesn't happen nearly as much if I alt-tab to other apps, such as Audacity or Finder. Still happens though..

    The setting in Ableton Live will have absolutely no influence on this, as it solely sets the buffer size for "Ableton Live" and no other app. Also I'm honestly not sure what you mean by "latency" in this context. The term "latency" often is used in the wrong context. "Latency" refers to the time difference between e.g. playing a Midi note on the keyboard until you actually hear the sound coming from the music software you're triggering a software synth in.


    Best wishes,
    Jörg Hüttner

    Yeah sorry about that, I guess it sounded better than "sound tearing". It sounds the same as when the buffer size (that's what it's called..) is set too low in Ableton and you run too many heave VSTs at the same time. The audio jumps, rips and tears.


    The reason I tried setting it in Ableton was that I couldn't find any buffer settings on the unit.

    I suggest checking for the following:
    - A faulty USB cable.
    - The USB port used shares it bandwidth with another device (internal or external) that sends bursts of large chunks of data. Use the system profiler to check for this.
    - The computer tries to put the USB port or the Virus itself in power saving mode.
    Hope this helps.