A fair possible decision, but what I can say about "latency" is that the stock settings are usually best. Many of us have tried (and died ) trying to "over optimize" The two most important things are your sound card (I don't see that listed) and setting windoze "power schemes" to "high performance"

In my experience (rather substantial) virtually everything else is nonsense (unless you have a presonus sound card, then the rabbit hole goes MUCH deeper )

Before shelling, I'd get those two things sorted. I (and many many others here) are pretty handy. I think the manual can be a bit daunting for some (though not too bad) so let's see if we can answer your questions here, and then we'll see.

ericalbert3 wroteI'd appreciate recommendations for where I can find a Studio One consultant to (virtually) walk me through various aspects of setting up and using the DAW, starting with getting the initial settings correct, including minimizing latency.

I'm looking for a link to a company that provides this service. If you have recommendations for a specific consultant, even better.

I've had Studio One for a year now and I realize I'm not making the time to RTFM. So, I'd like to pay someone to help me set up the basics so I can play, record, and edit music, then to be available for other questions as I go along.

Thanks!

Hi ericalbert3, You've come to the right place. I'm sure a number of people can assist you.
Quite honestly, I know of no standard settings of what "many of us do". People here can assist in the best way possible.

It can be a little overwhelming at times but a few videos often help with ovoiding so many words.

You can check out guys like Gregor, or a number of step by step slower and very friendly users who will even break away to help.

You'll be fine I'm sure, and peeple here will alo assist. Just fire away at any questions.
No need to go through manuals.
Cheers.