Jump to content

Syncing seq to a DAW


blingy
 Share

Recommended Posts

How are midiboxers syncing their sequencers to a DAW? I'm not that attached to any DAW but I would like one that can be sync'd to my larger hardware setup without too much trouble. If I have to use the computer as the master I will but I'd rather not. I've looked at the innerclock sync gen and the Roland sbx-1 but is there a way to tightly sync a DAW with din sync in the midibox world?

Edited by blingy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hola,

 

Some time ago, I managed to sync the SEQ to an old version of Cubase (V2) on the Atari ST :-).

Methinks in the BPM menu, you can configure the SEQ to listen to external MIDI clock events, also the "Start/Play" command should be honored, so the SEQ is in sync with your DAW. You could then change patterns, mute/unmute tracks and stay in sync...  it is good enough for a live performance...

 

It is also possible to work the other way around, to sync the DAW to the SEQ, which i liked a bit more.

MIDI timecode syncing is not supported yet, afaik.

 

What is really interesting is, how flaky the MIDI timing is on modern machines in comparsion to a "hardware" implementation on the Atari ST without USB-bus, multitasking events and all those interrupts... On Cubase 7 on a 3GHz - Windows 7 PC, my SEQ BPM jumps around 119.2 - 120.8, when syncing the SEQ to the Windows PC. When syncing to that 30-year old Atari ST, it stays around 119.8 - 120.2... :-)

 

Many greets,

Peter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i e.g. use a electribe rythm as master, and ableton live 9 as slave... where ableton sending midiloops to my hardwaresynths and do the audio mixing from this synths (live daw). for me it works great, because i use a RME-MultifaceII that is connectet via PCIe to the motherboard...i use the RME-Midiport instead of USB... the good drivers make also a part... then massive optimized windows 7 settings, and then the know how to setup the latency kompensation from ableton, and the use of "external-instrument" instead of "monitor-in"... for your synths.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of the DAWs I've tried either work like crap when they are slaved (ableton) or don't even offer slaving (reaper). I've asked around and one of the more interesting ways people are getting around this is by using an audio out for the clock. Expert Sleepers are definitely doing some interesting things with converting audio signals to CV and clock. I'd love to build something similar into my Midibox but I might just drop the coin on a few expert sleepers modules or get a sync gen. Problem with both of those solutions is that then I HAVE to have the computer on and running as master...when really I'm just trying to bring it in at the end as a multitrack recorder that is aware of the clock.

Edited by blingy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

I have the MBSeq sending clock to all my hardware gear. Via USB, it's connected to a laptop with Ableton. I can have either Live be the master to the MBSeq, which again is the 'master' for the h/w gear - or sync Live as slave to the MBSeq. It is working fine and without sync problems for me in both directions.

Ableton Live's MIDI clock handling is fine, it's the interface and drivers that matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...