Ableton/Live/UG/23 Instruments and Effects/03 Device Delay Compensation
- Live compensates automatically for processing delays from built-in devices and plug-ins, return tracks included, keeping tracks in sync with as little delay as possible between playing and hearing.
- It's on by default; Options → Delay Compensation turns it off.
- With it on, Reduced Latency When Monitoring (Options menu) skips compensation on input-monitored tracks for the lowest latency, at the risk of those tracks falling out of sync with compensated ones such as returns.
- Tempo-synced effects placed after delay-causing devices can sound out of time.
- Very large track delays or plug-in latencies can make Live sluggish. Turning compensation off is not usually advised and also disables Track Delay; adjusting track delays may help instead. Compensation can add CPU load.