Latency and The L1®
In all products (T1, L1 model II, and L1 model I) the signals go though a pre-amp (as needed) and then directly converted to digital with an A/D converter[1]
. All processing is done in the digital domain and the signals are converted back to analog before the output or the power amps. The connection between the T1 and the L1 Model II is digital. When connecting a T1 through the Master Out to a L1 Model I, the connection is analog, i.e. the signal passes twice through an A/D and D/A pair[2]. We use very high quality converters, and the effect of A/D and D/A on sound and signal quality is completely insignificant.
The latency depends a little on the exact configuration. Low latency was certainly a major design criterion for our product. It’s typically measured in 1000th of a second or milliseconds or ms for short. 1 ms is the time it takes sound to travel one foot. A delay of 1ms is equivalent to moving one foot away from the loudspeaker or instrument.
Actual latencies are ca.[3]
Compact: 0 ms (no latency) [4]
Model I: 1 ms
Model II: 1 ms
T1: 2.5 ms
T1+Model II: 2.5 ms
T1+Model I: 3.5 ms
See it Originally posted by Hilmar-at-Bose
- ↑ A/D = Analog to Digital converter
- ↑ D/A = Digital to Analog converter
- ↑ ca = Circa (approximately)
- ↑ The L1 Compact has an all analog signal path and therefore there is no latency as you would normally get when a signal passes through A/D and D/A converters. Craig-at-Bose