User Manual

Pro Tools Reference Guide956
Delay Compensation
Pro Tools provides automatic Delay Compensa-
tion for managing DSP and host-based delays
from plug-in and hardware inserts, and mixer
routing (bussing and sends). With Delay Com-
pensation enabled, Pro Tools maintains phase
coherent time alignment between tracks that
have plug-ins with differing delays, tracks with
different mixing paths, tracks that are split off
and recombined within the mixer, and tracks
with hardware inserts.
To maintain phase coherent time alignment,
Delay Compensation should always be enabled
during playback and mixing. Delay Compensa-
tion should also be used in most recording situ-
ations.
Enabling Delay Compensation
To enable Delay Compensation:
 Select Options > Delay Compensation.
When Delay Compensation is enabled, the De-
lay Compensation status indicator in the Edit
Window Toolbar is displayed.
The Delay Compensation View for tracks can be
displayed in the Mix Window (see “Delay Com-
pensation View” on page 958).
Configuring Delay Compensation
Engine
The amount of Delay Compensation available
for your session is set in the Playback Engine.
The total amount of delay due to inserts and
mixer routing for the entire session is displayed
in the Session Setup window.
There are three settings in the Playback Engine
dialog to dedicate processing resources for Delay
Compensation:
None Allocates no resources for Delay Compen-
sation.
Short Allocates minimum resources for Delay
Compensation for each channel. This is the
most efficient setting. For sessions with only a
few plug-ins that do not induce too much DSP
and host–based delay, this setting should be suf-
ficient.
Delay Compensation indicator
The Delay Compensation indicator in the
Edit window turns red if you have any de-
lays in the session that exceeds the maxi-
mum available delay compensation (see
“Delay that Exceeds the Compensation
Limit” on page 959).
Red can also indicate that you have created
a feedback loop that cannot be compen-
sated for. For example, if the output of a
track is routed to the input of the same
track. Mouse over the Delay Compensation
indicator in the Edit window to see if the
tooltip identifies this as a problem.