Find your monitoring sweet spot. Pick buffer + sample rate to see how much latency you get, and when it becomes a problem. Plus a delay/reverb time table keyed to your tempo.
Your buffer size sets how many samples the interface collects before sending them to your DAW. Larger = safer (fewer dropouts), but more monitoring delay. For tracking: go smaller. For mixing: go bigger.
Common combos (round-trip ms)
Recommended buffer by task
Tracking (live playing)
64--128 samples
~3--6ms round-trip. Use ASIO. Below 64 risks dropouts unless your interface + CPU can handle it.
Mixing / editing
256--512 samples
~6--23ms. Fine for offline work. Saves CPU headroom for plugins.
Mastering / render
1024--2048 samples
Latency irrelevant. Max buffer = fewer dropouts on long, heavy sessions.
Set your tempo, get delay times for every note value (straight, dotted, triplet) in ms and Hz, plus reverb pre-delay + decay that breathe with the groove.
Delay times
Hz = modulation/LFO rate for that note value. Dotted = ×1.5 (longer), triplet = ×2/3 (shorter).
Reverb
Pre-delay (tight)
--
1/64 note. Keeps the dry attack clear before the tail.
Pre-delay (open)
--
1/32 note. More separation, bigger sense of space.
Decay / tail (½ bar)
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Tail clears by the next downbeat. Rhythmic, doesn't wash out.
Decay / tail (1 bar)
--
Longer wash for ambient/doom. Watch low-end buildup.