Latency is the inherent amount of time it takes for an audio signal to be patched through your system and be monitored through it's outputs. If you were recording a live track while listening to previously recorded audio tracks, the live track would sound a fraction of a second late compared to the pre-record tracks. The live track would be recorded with the correct timing, but the monitoring would sound late.

There are several ways to reduce latency with MOTU audio hardware and software, and even make it inaudible. One way to reduce latency when using a 2408, 1224, 308, or 24i, is to reduce the buffer size in the PCI-324 console. This setting determines the size of the buffers used by the MOTU Audio System to transfer audio to and from your MOTU hardware. Another way to reduce latency is to use MOTU's Cue Mix console. Cue Mix activates a very low-level patch-through in the 324 driver. Live audio inputs are patched directly through to outputs by the 324 driver and are mixed with tracks playing back from your audio software by the driver.