Sonoma Wire Works Wants To Fix The Android Audio Latency Problem

Sonomalow-latency-android-audio Wire Works wants to fix the Android audio latency problem.

At the 2013 Winter NAMM Show, Sonoma Wire Works announced the development of a low-latency audio (LLA) solution for Android smartphones and other devices.

Typical input to output latency on Android devices is between 100 and 250 milliseconds. According to Sonoma Wire Works, their LLA solution brings latency down to approximately 20 milliseconds.

“Musicians have been clamoring for a fix for high latency on Android,” says Sonoma Wire Works President Doug Wright. “Sonoma Wire Works is proud to offer a solution that can broaden the device options for mobile music production.”

Audio latency on Android has been a fundamental barrier to the viability of the platform as a tool for musicians. Sonoma Wire Works’ LLA solution for Android won’t fix this across the Android platform, but is available for license to devices manufacturers.

16 thoughts on “Sonoma Wire Works Wants To Fix The Android Audio Latency Problem”

  1. Just what the platform needs. More fragmentation and third party workarounds for problems that shouldn’t exist in the first place.

    1. So, what do you think about ACP and Audiobus? Aren’t they also third party workarounds for problems that shouldn’t exist in the first place?

      I think its nice from Sonoma to try to make Android better, just like its nice from Audiobus to try to make IOS better.

      It will be interesting to see if Google reacts, or not…

      1. Don’t misunderstand me. I think it’s great that someone is addressing the audio issues in android. More choice is pretty much always a good thing. What’s depressing is that google isn’t sorting it out. How many manufacturers are going to sign up? “Here, we’ve got the low latency so you can use….uhhh…..all those awesome apps like….” Point is that apple built in the assumption that people would use their products creatively. And yes, i completely agree audiobus and acp are workarounds. Awesome ones for a huge, already existing ecosystem of apps that are now made even better. Basics like, y’know, real time input existed almost from the get go

        You know what it reminds me of? Early windows had little or no support for audio, so you had to buy a sound blaster or whatever. Hence nightmares over clashing drivers, inconsistent results. Which is why the mac made such inroads into the audio business, and is still (despite what you may read here) the only choice in big commercial facilities.

        When you can run ims20 or Auria or beatmaker or samplr or animoog or (and on and on) on an android tablet sign me up – I’m not an apple fanboy, but a functionality fanboy, and if I could do why I can currently do on my iPad on a nexus or whatever for $200 less, I would.

        1. Same here, I am too a functionality fanboy, and I would never get rid of my IOS devices unless I could run apps like Mugician/Geosynth and Animoog on my Android tablet.

          Its funny how Google is currently even behind Windows 8 when it comes to audio processing, even Rob Fielding has shown an awesome playing surface he’s working on (much like Mugician/Geo, but on a 24inch screen).

          If Google doesn’t react this year about the audio problem, it will only show that they don’t care about the music creation market (or they don’t understand it), which I think would be a big mistake for them, because Apple knows that even if Android becomes the most used tablet/mobile OS, the music market segment will keep them profitable for years.

  2. Have you ever coded an audio app for iOS? Audio Units are baked into the OS at a fundamental level, it’s like it was made for audio…meanwhile Android and Windows have to have third party extensions tacked on top to even be usable. If you’re a gamer or an accountant or something I’m sure Android and Windows are viable for you but if you’re into music production why bother with that crap? Stop being cheap and get Apple.

    1. Cheap? I sold my iPhone for a Note 2. I only kept iOS as long as I did because of the audio apps. It’s the one, I repeat, ONE thing, it has over a high end Android device and the one thing I miss. But I was willing to let that go for an actual phone with functionality.

  4. If they get this problem fixed, then I think it will be a final blow for apple. So many people want to use mobile Android devices (tablets) to produce musics on the go while (traveling) like I.

    1. Why would it be the ‘final blow’, when they are the most profitable company in the world, and iPhones and iPads are the mist popular smartphones and tablets?

      It sounds like your buying onto the market share argument. There are great Android devices – but many of them are crap!

  5. Imagine if the headline read “Sonoma Wire Signs Deal with Google to update OS to Remedy Latency on Most Android Devices!” Alas, it’ll be more complicated and less universal, but that’s how it goes.

  7. we’re not all insanely rich, and it shouldn’t be a choice between eating this month and having a new toy. i would LOVE for google to see what they have here, and come up with a standard, so we dont’ have laggy audio and video on android devices. There are great tools already on android, and if we kill the lag once and for all, those tools will be the beginning of something awesome. When I can get a functional android device for $100 and for $250 get something nearing the Ipad power/gfxwise, that’s a huge deal compared to the $300+ for an Ipad. Nothing against Apple, but they chose profits over ubiquity, and because of that, they lose my money, and my loyalty. (so.. actually, yes something against apple 😉

  8. 20ms is a big improvement. but typically i have timing issues when recording if the latency isn’t down to 5-10ms. OSX’s built-in latency for AU’s is 2ms. so it’s a swing and a miss.

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