Free tool
Guitar latency test
Measure the real delay between playing a note and hearing it back through your browser and audio interface. It takes 20 seconds and installs nothing.
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How do you want to measure?
- Plug a jack cable from an output of the interface (line out, or the headphone out with an adapter) into input 2.
- Set the input 2 gain low, about a quarter, and turn Direct Monitor off.
- Leave the guitar on input 1: the test finds the right input by itself.
- Press a headphone earcup against the computer's microphone, or play through the speakers at a moderate volume.
- Keep the room quiet: talking or noise can spoil a reading.
- The result includes the air between speaker and mic, about 3 ms per metre.
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Choose the devices
The browser asks for the microphone: that's how it hears your interface's inputs. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere.
Input levelThis browser can't choose the output, so the test uses the system's default output.
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Measure
Turn the headphones down first: the test plays 14 short chirps.
FAQ
Latency questions
What players ask most about the delay when they play guitar through the browser.
What latency is good enough to play guitar?
Under 10 ms round trip you won't feel it. Up to 20 ms is comfortable for practice. Between 20 and 30 ms scales are fine but fast riffs can feel loose. Above 30 ms most players notice the delay.
Why is latency in the browser higher than in my DAW?
A DAW talks to the interface through its native low-latency driver (ASIO on Windows, Core Audio on Mac). A browser can't load drivers: on Windows it goes through the shared Windows audio path, which adds buffers on the way in and out.
Do Bluetooth headphones add latency?
Yes, usually 100 to 250 ms, and nothing in the browser can undo it. Use wired headphones on the audio interface.
Can I use ASIO in the browser?
No. ASIO is a driver and web pages can't load drivers. Routing the browser through VoiceMeeter doesn't remove the shared Windows path either. For the lowest latency, use the free NAM plugin in a DAW and keep Lowforge for scales and the metronome.