Using a receiver for PC sound without lag

[noblerinthemind]

I'm experiencing lag with my new setup. It's minor but noticeable when I play guitar through the computer (Rocksmith). There is a fraction of a second delay. When using computer speakers and no receiver, there's no delay.
I just bought a Yamaha receiver with 5.1 speakers. I spoke to Yamaha and they said there is no way to completely remove lag through a receiver, that's why you shouldn't play musical instruments through the computer using a receiver. Even on "direct" settings the receiver still processes the signal a little bit. The rep said he "wouldn't use a receiver for Counterstrike"
I'm using PC -> Receiver -> monitor.
I've read conflicting posts here about this subject.
The rep recommended I get computer speakers that connect directly and don't process.
Any thoughts? Should I ditch the receiver and speakers if zero lag is my goal? I'd like to get higher quality sound and be able to have surround sound for movies but...

Thanks!

 

[Corwin65]

I have an external audio interface and when playing Rocksmith I also encounter lag. I have to play it through the onboard sound if I want to eliminate the lag. For everything else including all my games I have no issue. It seems there is a lot of processing going on when using Rocksmith.

 

[luciditysound]

That's tough to hear that the pure direct setting would still be introducing latency yet it makes sense if you are sending a digital signal to the receiver since it is then responsible for DAC. I would try plugging the analog outputs of the computer into the analog inputs of the receiver and setting pure direct. Ideally (but $$) you would go PC -> ASIO soundcard -> discrete amplifier. In such an arrangement latency is simply from the ASIO/hardware buffers and can be as low as 3ms. Any amplifier, such as a Lepai LP-2020TI, is zero latency by definition ... 3 of them would give surround sound... heheh.

 

[alexander.machytka]

I found a solution for my Yamaha RX-V470 AV receiver. I encountered the same delay while playing my e-piano that on my old 25-old Kenwood receiver didn't occur.
Fortunately I found a solution on another board: the secret is, that you have to set "2-channel stereo" on both the DSP menu (where you can choose between adventure, Munich concert hall and so on AND in the "Straight" Menu.
With that settings I can play piano without a lag and without the strange feeling that the tone comes a fraction later after pressing the key.