User Manual

Arrow Manual Latency & Arrow 235
Input Delay Compensation in Console
Console has automatic Input Delay Compensation (IDC), which is controlled by the Input
Delay Compensation menu in Console Settings. Console IDC maintains phase alignment
across all Console inputs when upsampled UAD plug-ins are used in Console.
Console’s IDC is useful when multiple Console inputs are used on a single source. For
example: If two microphones are used on an acoustic source (such as a acoustic guitar)
and an upsampled plug-in is used on one of the mic channels but not the other, without
input delay compensation, the phase of the two mic channels would no longer be aligned
(mics must be exactly equidistant from the sound source to remain phase aligned).
How Console IDC works
To maintain phase alignment, Console IDC automatically adds small amounts of delay to
each Console input that is not delayed by Upsampled UAD Plug-Ins. In other words, all
compensated inputs are automatically delayed by the same amount.
When To Use Console Input Delay Compensation
Console IDC is required to maintain phase alignment only when BOTH of the following
conditions are active:
1. Multiple Console inputs are used for a single source (such as a drum kit using
multiple microphones), AND
2. Any of those input channels contain upsampled UAD plug-ins.
Tip: When IDC is not needed, disable Console IDC for the lowest possible input
latency.
Effect of Console’s IDC setting
Note: Console’s IDC value is set with the Input Delay Compensation menu in
Console Settings. By default, Console IDC is enabled with the Short value of 100
samples.
In Console
In Console, the amount of delay added by the IDC engine is automatic. Only the
minimum amount of delay actually required to compensate the input(s) is applied (up
to the maximum value of the setting), maintaining the lowest possible latency for phase
alignment at all times.
For example: When Console’s IDC value is set to Short (100 samples – the default value)
and only 31 samples is actually required to compensate, then only 31 samples of delay
will be applied to the other Console inputs.
In the DAW
In the DAW, the amount of delay added by Console’s IDC engine is static. The extra
samples are always added to all inputs in the DAW, even if no upsampled plug-ins are
active. However, this overall additional input latency is reported by Arrow’s drivers, so it
is automatically compensated by the DAW’s ADC.