Spark Mini aux in latency issue
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I have a huge issue using the spark mini as a speaker, using the aux in. It generates a lot of latency, something that i observe for the first time with analogue inputs and basically makes it unusable. Anyone else having this issue
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@mehegama Wow, so it does! I've not had any reason to use it up to now, and would only use it to play sources that would not affect as it happens. I can see how that would be a serious nuisance to someone using it differently.
I can only think it goes through the digital interface, as it's the same latency you get if trying to monitor your guitar sound through a DAW (not that I would to be fair).
How very odd that the Bluetooth is way faster than what looks like an analog input....
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@broadkarnage So i tried my Helix in the Spark Mini to see how it works as a speaker, and although it sounds very good, the latency is huge. I have never observed latency in any device since the 90s by using analog aux ins and outs. I don't understand why the aux in of the spark mini is constructed in a way to interact with anything digital, provoking this issue. I thought the 1/4 and 1/8 inputs are purely analog and have nothing to do with any digital components.
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@mehegama the aux input I would expect to be analog but the guitar input will be almost immediately converted to digital for the modelling software.
Given the aux input doesn’t get recorded via USB, any conversion to digital seems pointless, yet the latency suggests it is being converted. Madness.
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@broadkarnage Indeed, i did not express it very well. I meant the 1/8 aux in of the spark and the 1/4 out of the helix. We are talking about an electrical signal going out of the out of the Helix, traveling through the cable to the aux in of the spark, converting it directly to sound via the speaker. There should not be any latency by construction.
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So I after a lot of back and forth with PG I got the answer regarding the latency of the aux in: Unfortunately it is basically a design flaw where the signal from the aux in will be processed by the Spark EQ and will create latency and cannot be fixed.
I m really disappointed as it is beyond me who took this decision to pass the aux in to an very bad AD converter and pass it through EQ rather than connect it directly to the speaker.
There is a way to "fix this by using the main guitar input and a blank preset (still it slightly colours the tone because of the global EQ setting of the Spark) but it s really inconvenient.
Really disappointed. -
@mehegama Thanks for sharing the information with us on this weird design choice.
I suppose applying the EQ Scenario processing isn’t all that weird, but the amount of latency created is shocking. Why should it be that much more than the guitar input?? It seems like it is being put into the processing way to early. Might be to manage clipping etc. but it doesn’t seem right.
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@mehegama
It might be because Aux In somehow is connected to Bluetooth in the firmware/hardware. It is pretty much a dumb design flaw, since it assumes that the only reason to use the Aux In would be backing tracks.Also makes impossible to edit while streaming, since accessing the bluetooth player cuts out the Midi synchronization.
For me, the selection of OD/distortion is lacking, focusing mostly on high gain stuff which I never use. I would have liked to use the Pocket GT into the Aux In, sine I have the sounds I like programmed into that (and the GT-1).
That said, I now just use a Roland Mobile Cube with a BT receiver, and the Pocket GT (or the GT-1) going into that, which incidentally sounds great and gives a LOT more volume.
In any case, I think making the Bluetooth dependent on the Aux In is a ridiculous design choice .....
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@mehegama
I don't think it is the Spark EQ that is the issue, but rather that Aux In goes through the Bluetooth chain (since the audio control is common to both). A really stupid design choice. IMO... and probably not fixable... -
@chuck-keyser
The inability to edit while streaming was because I had the iPhone connected with Bluetooth to another Bluetooth receiver; when I disconnected the other receiver, I was able to edit without breaking the connection.So - User error, one problem solved.
So for me, the only issue is the latency, which is really disappointing to me; in other respects it is working fine, and is an excellent practice amp - I just wish there were more OD/Distortions to choose from....
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Just received my Mini (my third Spark amp) excited to use it for a portable battery-only recording setup. Connected it to my laptop via Bluetooth, then USB, then direct 3.5mm audio out to audio in and astonished to discover this latency issue regardless of input. (And not a tiny amount but what feels like 100's of milliseconds.)
Epic Fail (IMHO).
