Sleep? Or pulling the Plug?

[Lunaman06]

Sorry I am new and really like the Midronome, it can do 100% I was expecting.
I have integrated in my setup and I think it stays but one little improvement would be really appreciated.

Unfortunately the box has no on/off switch, so I need to pull the plug each time, and reach out to it and need to pull the box out.
I know there are USB cables that do have a switch build in, but they also require some space.

I was wondering if there is a way e.g. by Long Press or double click a button e.g. SETUP to put the Midronome into a sleep MODE, where all Ouputs, LEDs and the display do go OFF until that button is pressed again.
The 1010music team had the same discussion with Bluebox users and after initial hesitation they did.
And it is a great feature.

Did we had such a discussion here already?

[Simon]

Hi

We definitely did not, and yes it's a great suggestion, I like it!
The device already goes into deep sleep mode if connected to a laptop which itself goes into sleep mode (as per the USB specification).

How would you want the device to wake up, then?

And while we are discussing power saving, I always thought it could be useful to have a setting where the display turns off after x seconds of inactivity? This would really reduce the power consumption and would be really great if the device was battery powered for example.

What do you guys think?

Cheers
Simon

[Milosdrummer]

And while we are discussing power saving, I always thought it could be useful to have a setting where the display turns off after x seconds of inactivity? This would really reduce the power consumption and would be really great if the device was battery powered for example.

What do you guys think?

Cheers
Simon

It sounds useful, but it would be good to have the option to toggle the screensaver on/off in any case.

[HappyClocker]

...

It sounds useful, but it would be good to have the option to toggle the screensaver on/off in any case.

I second that option!

[Lunaman06]

Quick demo how a manual deep sleep(all outs of) could work.

https://youtube.com/shorts/86Kzip8eHbg?feature=share

Automatic display off and/or deep sleep
would make sense
* Display off only after couple of minutes esp if locked. Display wake could be just action on rotary knob.
* Deep sleep normally after longer period like 120- 180 min.

But I would be with manual deep sleep happy to start with.
I use Midronome in a rather fixed setup at home.

[Lunaman06]

Quick update,
For the studio setup.
I do power the Midronome now via my MasterKeyboard which has an USB-A output(MODX).
Hence if my MasterKeyboard is off, Midronome is off as well.

[Simon]

Great, smart solution - thanks for sharing!

[Scott M2]

I like Luna’s simple solution (like the 1010 Bluebox).

[submergent]

i'd love to see a long press of the main rotary controller to sleep the device ( or power it down )... then another long press to power it back up.
i'm pulling the usb to my battery pack every day over and over... that'll stress that connector leading to a quicker failure.

on/off please and thank you!!

-pete

[armaster]

Hi, great feature!
My suggrestion:
1. screen off after some time if Nome is stopped.
2. turn off after long press rotary controller.

Now to wake it up or turn it on is a bit tricky. Considering that it doesn't have a battery and that it is disconnected from usb during transport (unexpected power on), this can be done just by pressing the rotary controller.

[Simon]

1. screen off after some time if Nome is stopped.

What do you mean "Nome is stopped"? You mean the Play button is not lit up (i.e. sequencers & other devices are stopped)?

I would personally see this feature as a "sleep mode", where the device continues to work as normal but turns all its LEDs and display off automatically after X minutes of inactivity, since the LEDs and the display represent 90% of the power consumption anyway.

Simon

[Trab]

How about something like this?

https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/accessor ... er-switch/

[Simon]

That's an amazing idea, thank you!
I love the simplicity, and since it's an external part it does not affect the users who do not need the functionality!

I actually plan on making a few cables for the Sim'n Tonic webshop so that people can order simple adapters which I often hear are missing (something like MIDI cables and MIDI to TRS adapter, and DIN-to-TRS adapter).
I will do my best to try to add a simple USB cable with a switch as well

Simon

[armaster]

The switch solution is simple, but...
I have a Nome II connected to a speaker or headphones. Every time I plug in or unplug the USB cable I hear a loud pop which is not very healthy for the headphones or the speaker. In my setup, screen off would be a better solution.

[Simon]

I have a Nome II connected to a speaker or headphones. Every time I plug in or unplug the USB cable I hear a loud pop which is not very healthy for the headphones or the speaker. In my setup, screen off would be a better solution.

Yes that's normal. I would hardly say that the pop is very loud though, and it's very common. It's just the voltage of the output capacitors that need to be stabilized.

But point noted about the screen off version.

[seantalley]

I picked up a longer USB cable (rather than a dongle) with an on/off switch and it works for me! Definitely feels more intuitive to me than just unplugging it or leaving it on all the time. Thanks for the suggestion, Trab!

[lomelo-x]

I picked up the Nome II a few hours ago and am already wishing it had a standby mode .

Simon my suggested logic would be similar to what you previously mentioned:

If no clock in/out or user interaction occurs for xx minutes,
put the display and LEDs into standby until activity resumes.

Menu > ADV >
STN (Standby)
OFF
5
10
20
30

OFF = standby inactive
5 / 10 / 20 / 30 = stanby active after minutes of inactivity

Activity Definition:

Activity is any of the following:
Clock received
Clock sent
Encoder movement
Button press

Standby Logic
Track last activity timestamp

On any activity
Update last activity time
Wake display and LEDs

If no activity occurs for the configured interval:
Turn display off
Turn LEDs off
Internal sequencing and timing remain unaffected


Pseudo Code:

lastActivityTime = now()
standbyTimeoutMinutes = userSetting // OFF, 5, 10, 20, 30

function onClockIn()
lastActivityTime = now()
wakeDisplayAndLEDs()

function onClockOut()
lastActivityTime = now()
wakeDisplayAndLEDs()

function onUserInteraction()
lastActivityTime = now()
wakeDisplayAndLEDs()

function mainLoop()
if standbyTimeoutMinutes == OFF
return

if (now() - lastActivityTime) > (standbyTimeoutMinutes * 60)
sleepDisplayAndLEDs()


I think this is a much-needed feature, especially in a studio setting.

Thanks!

[HappyClocker]

I picked up the Nome II a few hours ago and am already wishing it had a standby mode .

Simon my suggested logic would be similar to what you previously mentioned:

If no clock in/out or user interaction occurs for xx minutes,
put the display and LEDs into standby until activity resumes.

Menu > ADV >
STN (Standby)
OFF
5
10
20
30

...

Very good idea!

However I would like to have 30, 60, 120, 240 minutes because analog gear usually needs 15 min for warming up at least.
Besides that my workflow is to slow to produce results under 30 min.

[lomelo-x]

Very good idea!

However I would like to have 30, 60, 120, 240 minutes because analog gear usually needs 15 min for warming up at least.
Besides that my workflow is to slow to produce results under 30 min.

Hi happyclocker

Thanks!

I think we might be talking about slightly different things here.

The standby time isn’t really related to workflow speed or analog warm up time. The Nome II would still be fully alive and running. My suggestion would only turn off the display and LEDs when there is no activity at all.

In an active studio session or live setting, even 30 minutes of true inactivity is actually quite a long time. There is usually regular interaction such as start stop, tweaking, clocking, listening, resetting, etc.

Where the standby feature would realistically kick in is more walking away scenarios such as stepping out for lunch, downtime between soundcheck and show, or leaving a patch up overnight. That is exactly where reducing power draw, display wear, and brightness is useful.

That said, having longer options like 60, 120, and 240 minutes in addition to shorter ones would work too. A simple range gives everyone flexibility without changing the behavior itself.

[Simon]

Hi both - this is a nice suggestion, thank you.
It will be considered Like many of these, it's easy and quick to implement, the problem is more the amount of small settings like this which start to be overwhelming. The only case where I would think the sleep mode would be useful though is when running on battery as turning off the display and the LEDs will save power.

Note that FW 5.2 coming out soon will have a "turn off function" where the device turns off if you hold the setup button down for 3 seconds. Then turns back on at the press of the play, mute or TAP button. This is already implemented