I am doing research for a project. What is the average time it takes between a sound being made and when it gets noticed by the software (Sound->Microphone->Hardware->Software). Also, about how long does it take for sound to be mixed and sent through the speakers. (Play->Mix->Hardware->Speakers->Ears) http://3d.n3.net/

Totally unscientific answer, but I have some software (a guitar effects program ) which processes sounds that come in through the microphone/line in and plays them through the speaker. It claims to do this with just 20ms latency, and that is with some pretty heavy duty effects applied.