Very high latency and pixelated screen
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When I join a FarPlay session with only one other person, my latency jumps to 47 ms or higher and cannot be brought down. Also, the screen that the other person sees is pixelated (he took a photo from his POV, which I attached below). I’m using Windows, with the audio interface Focusrite Scarlet Solo. I’m connecting straight to my new router via Ethernet cable with a necessary adaptor into my computer. I just enhanced the speed connection to 5G (fiber is not available in my area). My recent upload speeds have tested as high as 55 Mbps, with Ping as low as 13 ms. The other person in my joint session can hear me (I use a dynamic microphone). And I can see and hear him. The biggest problem is that there’s always a huge delay in my earphones. I’ve tried having a session with the Wi-Fi on, and off; with more or less the same result.
Can someone please advise as to where my settings could be? Or any other thoughts as to what could be causing these problems? I’ve had a few different sessions on FarPlay so far, and the common problem is always very high latency. Thanks!
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Hi Laura,
Thanks for your message and photos.
Please make sure each musician turns VPN off on their computer, if used. High latency and severe video artifacts are common with VPN.
Go to FarPlay’s Preferences > Video and decrease “Your max outgoing bandwidth” to 150 kbps and decrease “Your max resolution (width in pixels)” to 320. Press OK. Check whether a remote musician can now see your video more clearly.
To minimize the latency with which you hear your own voice in your headphones (and latency between you and other musicians), use the version of our QuickStart guide customized for Windows PCs with external audio interfaces. This version walks you through selecting your Scarlett’s ASIO drivers for the microphone and headphones in FarPlay and setting your Scarlett’s ASIO buffer size to a small, low-latency size (like 32 samples).
Can you test with a cable internet connection? Sometimes 5G connections (examples: T-Mobile 5G and Verizon 5G) handle low-latency audio/video poorly, so our requirements page recommends fiber (best) or cable (OK) internet connections. From experience connecting with users on 5G, I expect even a slow cable connection (with only, say, 20 Mbit/s of upload speed) to typically provide far better connectivity than a 5G connection (even when the 5G connection gets higher upload speeds of 50+ Mbit/s).
Could you share how far apart you and the remote musician are (for example, are you in the same/neighboring states)? Latency increases with distance, and two musicians in San Francisco and New York can get slightly below 40 ms of latency when both ends use fiber connections (latency is higher if one or both ends isn’t using fiber).
Thank you,
David LiaoHi David,
Thank you for all of your advice and guidance. I’ve tried making the suggested adjustments in preferences, but unfortunately, the latency is still very high, and unstable.
I’ll look into installing cable, which hopefully, will be the solution. You had mentioned that an upload speed of 20 Mbps would work. To clarify, is that the minimum that I could go, if I were to switch to cable? I want to definitely ensure that I have enough speed when I sign up with a new provider.
All of the musicians whom I’m working with live in CA, as do I. Most are in Los Angeles and 2 of us are in Orange County.
Thank you again,
LauraDear Laura,
Thanks for your update. You can go as low as ~10 Mbps of upload speed if you only connect with musicians 1:1 (rather than in small groups). With only 10 Mbps of upload speed though, make sure all other internet-intensive apps/devices in the home are paused during FarPlay sessions. 20 Mbps (35+ Mbps would be even better, if available) of upload speed lets you more comfortably join group sessions (you’ll still need to pause unnecessary intensive internet use: for example, pause DropBox file-syncing on all computers in the home while using FarPlay).
Connections within a metro area (like Southern California) should get you ballpark latencies around 20 ms on cable, much better than 47 ms :).
Thank you,
David LiaoDear Laura,
Thank you for your update. Can you please share a screenshot of FarPlay’s Preferences > General Options page? And, in that page, can you press the ASIO Buffer Settings button and share a screenshot of the Scarlett’s control panel that then appears?
Thank you,
David LiaoHi David,
When I click on the ASIO Buffer Settings button, nothing happens; it won’t allow me to click on it. But below is a screenshot of what I do currently have as my settings.
Thank you,
LauraAttachments:
Dear Laura,
Thanks so much for this screenshot. To reduce the delay you hear of your own voice in your headphones and to lower the latency, please do the following.
- Please download and install your Scarlett Solo’s official drivers from Focusrite.
- Then, in FarPlay’s Preferences > General Options, set the Microphone to Focusrite USB ASIO.
- Likewise, set the Headphones to Focusrite USB ASIO.
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Then press the ASIO Buffer Settings button, which will now launch your Scarlett’s control panel (below). Make sure the sample rate is 48000 Hz, and change the buffer size to 32 samples.
- Go ahead and close the Scarlett’s control panel and press OK in FarPlay’s Preferences. You’ll now get lower latency and hear your own voice in your headphones with virtually unnoticeable delay.
Thank you,
David Liao
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