MIDI clock sync needs work

[donkey]

 i've noticed that when i have the timefactor's clock slaved to another machine, the timefactor's tempo is not quite in sync. for instance if i set the master's tempo to 121 BPM, the timefactor's tempo reads 121 but it is actually a bit faster. it is only when i increase the tempo of the master to 121.9 that i get an almost perfect sync. whatever integer you have the tempo of the master set at, the timefactor is about 0.8-9 BPM faster. anyone else notice this? perhaps it can be fixed in the next OS? by the way i have the latest OS. other than that i love the time factor

[szyd]

I am having the same problem. I'm syncing the Time Factor to an Alesis Micron running sequences, and if I use the repeat switch to make a loop on the Time Factor, it will slide ahead of the Micron within 4 or 5 measures. I checked the updater, and I have the newest firmware.

I've been working around this, but it would be great if a future update could achieve tighter sync. Midi clock sync and the repeat switch were actually the main reasons I bought this pedal.

[juerget]

 I have similar problems with both the modfactor and the time factor.

I 've tried syncing the devices to external sources; mac through different soundcards and individual midi interfaces, through an akai hardware sampler, and through a moog mp-201 with no success. The delay is almost bearably offbeat and the modfactor performs some sort off shuffle around midiclock signal.

With these current problems they practically unusable except for long sweeps or applications where accuracy isnt' critical.

[nickrose]

 MIDIclock will be improved in future releases.

 Can anyone recommend a pedal or stompbox that they feel will receive and display MIDIclock in an adequate manner ? We need some for testing.

[reptar]

I've been having similar problems trying to sync my Timefactor up to a drum machine to get loops going in time, using the tapecho model. I thought that I should add that the problem doesn't seem to me to be in the midi sync receiving, rather the way the delay time and the midi sync work together.

After I noticed it wasn't syncing up I disconnected the midi lead and tapped the tempo in manually. I got the same value tapping in as I'd gotten with the midi sync signal, and the tap and tempo lights were flashing in time to the drum beat I had going.

I tried some basic stuff like setting a 1 bar delay time and just clapping into the mic I had set up into it on the 1, when the tempo light on the TF flashed. Not only were the delays not in time with the drums but they weren't even in time with the flashing light on the TF. This is what led me to think the problem isn't with the receiving of sync after all, but rather the calculations the TF is doing to work out delay time from the tempo. It almost seems like it's synced to 15/16 instead of 16/16.

Anyway, hope that helps you guys sort this out. My OS is 2.0.3[2].

[grovest]

 Hi Nick, you probably know this, but MIDI OX will display an accurate BPM of an incoming  timing stream. Just use the midi sync transport controls… but don't actually press 'play'  on dialog.

[nickrose]

 There are various PC based MIDIclock readers (of varying quality), but I am trying to find one or more pieces of outboard equipment that people view as having acceptable MIDclock performance – these would have to actually do something with the received MIDIclock values rather than just display it.

[szyd]

Hi Nick,
I've done the following thing and had the sync work well – use the Alesis Micron as a signal processer, with in-tempo delays and the tempo slaved to a drum machine. Feeding the signal from the same drum machine through the Micron, I am able to get in-tempo delays, and run sequences on the Micron in sync with the drum machine. But the Micron only has a second of delay and no looping, so it's hard to know how precisely the delays are lining up. You can also make the Micron do tempo synced phase, flange, and filter effects on an input signal. It is not set up to be used as an effects unit – you have to be playing a note for the signal to pass through, and the sound quality on the inputs is pretty iffy – but it is capable of doing these things in sync to an external tempo, and the sync feels much more solid to me than what I was getting with the Time Factor.

I don't know of any delay pedals that are supposed to do this well (that's why I was drawn to the TF).

I haven't used it, but the Boss RC-50 looper (the big pedal board version) is supposed to accept midi clock, but I have read on the internet about people having similar problems with slipping when connecting it to outboard gear. People say they solve it using "midi clock delay" which is apparently present in some DAWs, but not in any synths I have used. I don't really know how that works.

Would it be feasible to have the TF act as a midi clock master? I think that would solve all of my sync problems with it, and I think a lot of people would see having their clock master be a device with tap tempo as a huge advantage for live performance. Most synths do not have a foot pedal for tap tempo, and as a result there are products like this:
http://www.ploytec.com/34one/

Anyways, it's great to see that this is being worked on! I really love the TF, but having better sync options would let me use it in more contexts.

[Author]

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