Keyboard latency
When using a MIDI keyboard (M-Audio Keystation Mini 32 Mk3) with Musescore 4 on my new laptop (Dell 7640, Windows 11), there is a small but annoying amount of latency between pressing a key and hearing the sound. Is there something I can tweak in Musescore or Windows to improve this?
Comments
I have an almost identical setup. What are you using for sounds? MuseSounds or built-in Soundfonts? What are you using for listening? Wired headphones or bluetooth phones/speakers. Are you using an external audio interface?
I fought this same issue for months and finally learned that using bluetooth audio to listen was a bad idea, also not using a ASIO interface was also a bad idea. Also, Musesounds contributed to the delay compared to soundfonts. Try it with soundfonts instead and see what happens.
In reply to I have an almost identical… by bill0287
Thanks for your reply. I'm using the built-in soundfonts, I'm listening on wired headphones, and I'm not using any external audio interface, just the keyboard plugged in directly to a USB socket.
In MuseScore, the Edit > Preferences > I/O panel says:
- Audio device: System default
- Buffer size: 1024
- MIDI input: Keystation Mini 32 Mk3
- MIDI output: No device
Can you advise further about using an ASIO interface if that would help?
In reply to Thanks for your reply. I'm… by ozmusicman88
I had to fix my original reply as I was referring to bluetooth headphones not USB. There are couple of heated threads on here about midi latency, you might want to check those. An audio interface with a built-int ASIO driver is always more desirable for any audio work. There are many to choose from. I can't promise that it will help as I am also new to MuseScore too, but the latency shouldn't be too bad with an interface and soundfonts. Even with Musesounds it should be manageable.
In reply to I had to fix my original… by bill0287
Thanks for your further response. I downloaded a basic piano app to compare (https://freepiano.tiwb.com/en), and there was no latency with that, so the issue appears to be with MuseScore or something else in the MIDI input path.
In reply to Thanks for your reply. I'm… by ozmusicman88
Increase your buffer to 4096.
In reply to Increase your buffer to 4096. by bobjp
Thanks for your reply. I tried increasing the buffer size, but it did not reduce the latency.
In reply to Thanks for your reply. I… by ozmusicman88
I just tried comparing the latency on note input in Musescore versions 3 (3.6.2) and 4 (4.3.2) with the same MIDI keyboard (M-Audio Keystation Mini 32 Mk3) on the same new laptop (Dell 7640, Windows 11), and the annoying latency was present with Musescore v4 but not with v3, so hopefully this can be improved in a future update.
In reply to I just tried comparing the… by ozmusicman88
Yes, you get two different results because MU3 and MU4 are two different programs. That's why you need to tune your computer to MU4. When MU4 first came out, using my Focusrite usb audio device helped. But not needed so much in this last version. That means MU4 has gotten better. Slowly.
Go through all of the settings here;https://musescore.org/en/node/339915
Check each one. In I/O select your actual output device, not Default. Make sure to uncheck "Exclusive mode".
In reply to Yes, you get two different… by bobjp
Thanks for your further reply. I checked those sound settings and disabled Exclusive mode, but it did not reduce the latency. I'm not using any external audio interface, just headphones plugged in directly to the headphone socket, and the MIDI keyboard plugged in directly to a USB socket.