Sim'n Tonic Forums

Hi Simon

Can you explain in a little more detail please what the Track Latency and Shift MS functions (negative and positive) are actually doing to the Midronome or Ableton? I am stubbornly trying to get on-grid recording lined up for my hybrid Hardware & Software clips but not finding the special recipe as yet.

Here's a pic for info - loving the Midronome in combo with a Retrokits RK006.


One other small thing... a recording hardware example below (sending every instrument 4:4 notes) - I am seeing an additional ~6MS delay on first notes recorded compared to every subsequent one which is identical. I know it's like to do with delay compensation in software but I can workaround by having a the first bar sequenced as silence then everything lines up, unless there is another way am missing?

Hi

Interesting setup! I remember seeing that diagram before...

Make sure you keep track latency to zero on the Midronome plugin track in Ableton. Using on other tracks is an interesting idea (to do "per synth" compensation), but yes it might affect the Midronome's timing.

About your question on the shift slider in the plugin:

• positive shift is handled by the plugin, delaying the timing sent to the device which will delay all clocks
• negative shift is handled by the DAW, the plugin increases its plugin latency so that the delay compensation mechanism runs it "earlier"

Note that:

1. the timing might move a little (about +/- 1ms) every time you press play, that's just the limitation of the DAW
2. sometimes the DAW timing gets confused if you have changed sample rate and buffer size a few times - if this happens simply restarting the DAW makes it go back to normal

Generally if your goal is to have exact "on the grid" recording, I would suggest you record the Midronome's metronome so you can see where its timing is.

I understand you must love your RK006 and it clearly is a central piece of gear in your setup, but just be aware that having all clocks going through it means it will affect timing. And if it can shift/modify clocks, then it means it "recreates" the clock instead of simply transmitting it. Basically any "smart" hub will have to receive the data, analyse it, and then recreate it, while the cheapest and "dummest" hubs will be 100% hardware, simply transmitting whatever they receive - these are the best to use with the Midronome.

If you have a simple MIDI hub at hand, just to see the difference, it would be very interesting to try the following:

• send the Deluge MIDI Data to the Midronome over USB (use the mac to forward the data)
• the Midronome will then merge it with its clock without affecting the clock
• then use the simple hub to connect the Midronome's MIDI outputs to all devices

When you try this, start with all track latency and all shift settings to zero, see where your devices record in terms of timing. Based on what you wrote I guess you'll get stable latency but have those 12/18/21 ms latency on your devices.

Also for the devices that have a analog sync input and do not need MIDI notes, try using the ANLG output of the Midronome to sync them (to save MIDI ports), on your modular setup for example.

Finally, regarding your question about the first beat, this is probably caused by your synths and the sudden change of timing when you press play. The Midronome does all what it can to smooth the transition from master clock to slaving to Ableton, but that means the clock the synths receive might jump a little on the first beat, and some synths might react slowly to the changes.

I hope that makes sense - lots of technical info for you to digest That gives you a taste of how complex U-SYNC is - this is just the top of the iceberg

Simon

PS: if it's ok I would move this topic to the general "Question about the software" so that everybody can see it?

Thanks Simon, really thorough and thoughtful reply as ever. Sure, am happy for you to move the thread for more visibility.

I'll need some time to think through what I want to achieve with this setup and what "finished" sync state I would be happy with. Previous attempts at DAW integration with USB Midi, Ableton LINK etc were largely an unstable nightmare so Midronome (and U-Sync firmware in particular) has been brilliant for me so far. I'll report back here if any other changes or questions.

Awesome, and my pleasure

Let me know!

PS: topic moved