Lynx Achieves Near-Zero Latency with New Firmware and Drivers for Thunderbolt and PCI Express Products

Latency of less than one millisecond roundtrip latency attainable with latest offering

COSTA MESA, CA – OCTOBER 6, 2015 Lynx Studio Technology has released new firmware and driver sets for the Aurora and Hilo Thunderbolt converters and the AES16e, E44 and E22 PCI Express cards. A comprehensive reevaluation of Lynx firmware and software design has yielded an industry-leading, verifiable latency standard. Actual measurements of the Lynx AES16e in Windows and The Aurora 16TB Thunderbolt model in Mac OSX show 0.95 millisecond roundtrip latency at a sample rate of 96 kHz, 32 sample buffer. Similar tests showed 2.2 millisecond roundtrip latency at 44.1 kHz and a 32 sample buffer.

“Latency is a critical factor to consider when selecting DAW hardware and software. Our goal has always been to minimize latency in order to provide our customers with optimal performance particularly when doing overdubs,” explained Bob Bauman, Lynx cofounder and Chief Hardware Engineer. “Recently we decided to do another review of latency in systems using our hardware and the latest DAW software. After analyzing the data we collected, we found ways we could tweak the hardware to reduce latency even further. These tweaks involved low-level adjustments to PCI Express bus transactions and fine-grain buffering controls. The latest version of firmware implements these changes.”

“Our goal was to minimize latency at every step in the audio chain. The results speak for themselves,” stated Lynx cofounder and Chief Software Engineer David A. Hoatson. “For instance, the E44 PCI Express Card at 48kHz with a 32 sample buffer has an input latency of 0.958ms and an output latency of 0.917ms for a round trip latency of 1.875ms. At 96kHz those numbers are reduced to 0.448ms input, 0.417ms for a round trip latency of 0.865ms. At 192kHz the input latency is 0.219ms and the output latency is 0.208ms for a round trip latency of 0.427ms.”

This is a free download from the Lynx Studio Technology website and is available for all Aurora and Hilo converters using the LT-TB Thunderbolt card, AES16e, E44 and E22 PCI Express cards.