How to Record Vocals With Zero Latency (And Still Add Reverb)
There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to record vocals while hearing a delay in your headphones. That annoying lag—called latency—can completely ruin a singer’s performance. Thankfully, there’s a way to record with zero latency while still monitoring yourself with reverb and delay. Let’s break it down step by step.
What Causes Latency?
When you sing into a microphone, the signal travels through your preamp, into your audio interface, through your computer, into your DAW, and then back out to your headphones. That round trip takes time, which creates latency. The more plugins and processing your computer is handling, the bigger the delay you’ll hear.
Reducing Latency With Buffer Size
Most DAWs, like Cubase, allow you to reduce latency by lowering your audio buffer size in the studio setup. A smaller buffer means lower latency (often 2–4 ms), but it also puts more strain on your CPU. For mixing, you’ll want a higher buffer size for more stability. For recording, always go as low as your system can handle.
Direct Monitoring: The No-Latency Hack
Here’s the real trick: instead of monitoring your vocal through the DAW, use direct monitoring. Every audio interface offers a way to blend your microphone input directly with the playback from your DAW. This bypasses the computer round trip, giving you a true zero-latency monitoring experience.
Adding Reverb Without Latency
Dry vocals don’t always feel inspiring. Most singers perform better with some reverb or delay in their headphones. You can still achieve this without adding latency by creating a second vocal channel in your DAW with a 100% wet reverb inserted. Monitor that channel only for effects, while keeping your dry voice monitored directly through the interface. Since reverb and delay are time-based effects, the small latency doesn’t affect the feel.
What If Your Interface Has No Mixer Software?
Budget interfaces may not include console software, but many have a “direct/DAW” knob to blend the microphone input with DAW playback. This works the same way for latency-free monitoring.
Monitoring With Plugins
If you want to track with compression, EQ, or Auto-Tune, you’ll need one of two solutions: either monitor directly through your DAW (and accept some latency), or invest in an interface with onboard DSP plugins. Interfaces like Universal Audio’s Apollo or Antelope models let you record and monitor through high-quality effects with zero latency.
Final Thoughts
Recording vocals with zero latency is all about balancing your buffer size, taking advantage of direct monitoring, and creatively adding reverb for comfort. With this setup, you’ll be able to capture better performances without the distraction of delay in your headphones.
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Don’t miss the full video that shows this technique in action!