Modfactor Midi clock problem and upgrading via USB

[lou bourbon]

Hi. 

Love the Modfactor and TimeFactor pedals but I’m having issues…as others have had, over the MIDI clock not synching up correctly to an external clock and I think I might be able to resolve this with an update on software….but I don;t know how to do that.

To begin with, I’m using a Beat Buddy pedal as a MIDI CLOCK and have synched it up to a BOSS SL-20 slicer to create rhymic pulses. My idea was to use the Modfactor to apply clock synced flange, pulse and tremolo effects to this pulsating rhythm so that the effect would fall in time rhythmically with the Beat Buddy and the Slicer. I must say that the Beat Buddy and Slicer synch up WITHOUT DRIFT for hours! But very quickly I notice that the MODFACTOR pedal begins applying effect at a rhythm that is slightly off from The Beat Buddy and the Slicer….matter of fact, since I’m sending MIDI from the Beat Buddy to the Modfactor and then to the Slicer, the Slicer will begin to pulsate off time with the Beat Buddy as well. Removing the Modfactor returns me to a perfect clocking.

I want to “update” my software because I THINK this may correct the issue….but I don;t know how AND I bought my pedal USED….How do I try and update and WILL I be able to update being a second owner?

 

Thank you so much.

Lou

[gkellum]

Lou Bourbon wrote:

I want to "update" my software because I THINK this may correct the issue….but I don;t know how AND I bought my pedal USED….How do I try and update and WILL I be able to update being a second owner?

Are you sure that your pedals are still registered to the previous owners?  You could try registering them on our website to your account and seeing if it works.  If so, then you can just go to Supports / Downloads, navigate to the Downloads section for TimeFactor or ModFactor, and download the Eventide Direct Updater which you can use to update your pedals:  https://www.eventideaudio.com/support/downloads

If your pedals are still registered to their previous owner, then you'll want to send an email to support@eventide.com for help deregistering them.  They're going to want you to send a photo of the serial numbers of your stompboxes.  Some people have sent us incorrect serial numbers in the past and the wrong pedals got deregistered.  So, just take a quick photo of the serial numbers with your phone and send them to us.

 

[gkellum]

I talked to a couple of our DSP engineers about what you're trying to do.  They said updating may help with your problem.  The newer releases have a MIDI Clock filter option which will give a better representation of the incoming tempo value.  They also said that the ModFactor's LFOs can drift off tempo eventually due to small mathematical errors that add up over time.  One thing you can do is to retrigger the LFOs by tapping the tap button.

[lou bourbon]

gkellum wrote:

I talked to a couple of our DSP engineers about what you’re trying to do.  They said updating may help with your problem.  The newer releases have a MIDI Clock filter option which will give a better representation of the incoming tempo value.  They also said that the ModFactor’s LFOs can drift off tempo eventually due to small mathematical errors that add up over time.  One thing you can do is to retrigger the LFOs by tapping the tap button.

Thank you for the help. I’ve got the original owner of the ModFactor to deregister the pedal so I’m set on that one and will begin updating later today. 

The clocking issue though concerns me. If I can reclock the pedal by tapping it, why can’t engineers reclock the pedal to the incomming midi clock every 4 beats (or so)? Why even have a midi clock option at all if the clock won’t work correctly due to drift? This seems really strange to me….and if the clock feature will have the same problems on the Time Factor…why is something like an arpegiator even included if it will not stay in time with a MIDI clock. This is very worrysome to me…

Perhaps what I’m trying to do can be accomplished well enough with the updates…I sure hope so. The purchase of these pedals was completely predicated on the idea that they would stay in time with a midi clock, something I asked Eventide support about BEFORE purchasing them. 

Lou

[gkellum]

Lou Bourbon wrote:

The clocking issue though concerns me. If I can reclock the pedal by tapping it, why can't engineers reclock the pedal to the incomming midi clock every 4 beats (or so)? Why even have a midi clock option at all if the clock won't work correctly due to drift? This seems really strange to me….and if the clock feature will have the same problems on the Time Factor…why is something like an arpegiator even included if it will not stay in time with a MIDI clock. This is very worrysome to me…

You mean the HarPeggiator from PitchFactor?  Do you have that too?  That has different MIDI Clock behaviour actually…  It reads directly from the MIDI Clock and uses that to drive the playhead…  So, it won't drift…

In any case please update and let us know how you're getting along…  It could be that the MIDI Clock filter is going to give you the behavior you want…  

[lou bourbon]

[/quote]

You mean the HarPeggiator from PitchFactor?  Do you have that too?  That has different MIDI Clock behaviour actually…  It reads directly from the MIDI Clock and uses that to drive the playhead…  So, it won’t drift…

In any case please update and let us know how you’re getting along…  It could be that the MIDI Clock filter is going to give you the behavior you want…  

[/quote]

Oh…sorry,..yes. The PitchFactor. Ok…cool. That makes me rest a little easier. Will upgrade pedal and let you know results. Thank you very much for your respponses.

Lou

[lou bourbon]

I upgraded to the 5.2.0 version and lost any ability to have the pedal recognize “Clock In” commands. ???

I’m trying the 3.5.0 version now. 

Did I upgrade to the wrong version before?

[gkellum]

Lou Bourbon wrote:

I upgraded to the 5.2.0 version and lost any ability to have the pedal recognize "Clock In" commands. ???

I'm trying the 3.5.0 version now. 

Did I upgrade to the wrong version before?

No, v5.2 is the best version to upgrade to.  After upgrading, I'd recommend clearing your pedals system settings by turning it off and turning it on again with the right footswitch and the algorithm selector knob pressed.  Then, go into the system settings and double check that the MIDI settings are correct.  All the MIDI clock stuff has been tested with that release and you shouldn't have any trouble using it.

[lou bourbon]

Yeah…that ain’t working either.

The second version I’ve downloaded is giving me the same problem…no MIDI CLOCK IN is  recognized. I THINK I have the settings correct….I set it up yesterday and got it to work…but now nothing.

MIDI Clock In is ON

MIDI Clock out is OFF. 

MIDI FLT is OFF.

MIDI OUTPUT is THRU …although it does not matter which setting I have it on, THRU or XMT…the thing won’t respond.

Yesterday I was able to get this working correctly very easily. Setting tempo in the Beat Buddy allowed me to adjust BPM on the ModFactor and the speed adjustment knob changed the parameters from HZ  to something that was working off the Clock input….Now I have no MIDI clock capabilities after “upgrading”. 

I do have MIDI through capabilities so I know my new cables are good….although EVEN with the MIDI THROUGH enabled…to control the clock on my SLICER…the BPMs quickly get off track….start beating to something completely different.

 

 

[gkellum]

Did you reset the system settings on your Factor pedal before redjusting all of your MIDI settings?

 

[lou bourbon]

OK…nix last response.

I forgot to push the encoder button to allow external tempo control.

Man…there is a lot of stuff to remember and I’m old.

OK…got MIDI clock input to work and Filter is now on.

Let me experiment a while

I can say though that this version 3 is a VAST improvement over the original.

 

Lou

[gkellum]

If you're still having trouble with v3, you should try the v5 release.  I was talking to one of my collegues a bit more about your problem, and he said there was a bug they fixed where MIDI Clock ticks were sometimes being dropped.  I'm not sure if this was fixed in the v3 or the v5 release, but dropping ticks would certainly cause some drift…  Also, the v5 TimeFactor release has some big improvements to the Looper algorithm, and the v5 releases let you connect Factor pedals to H9 Control in case you need a preset librarian (https://www.eventideaudio.com/products/software/bluetooth/h9-control).

[lou bourbon]

OK…

 

Seems like the bugs are working out of the system and I’m now getting clock sync pretty good…although when I switch through some of the 10 effects, it will screw around with the clockgoing THRU the pedal and I have to unplug the main clock to get the Slicer synced up again….that’s a pain. I may resolve that problem by using a MIDI splitter and sendint clock signals to each unit separately. That will mean I only have to mess with the Eventide ModFactor to get settings correct.

It APPEARS from the LED display that the ModFactor is compensating for beats occasionally because the lights will quickly beat out of time for 2 beats and appears to re-sync every 4-8 measures ort so. Maybe it’s something else…

Anyway…I’m a bit happier now. I;ve been playing one measure of music for about 40 minutes now and at least the flange function seems to be staying in time with the clock now. It certainly wasn’t with the original settings…

And I did upgrade to the latest software version. Thank you.

Lou

[lou bourbon]

Well…

After spending a bit more time with the pedal all I can say is that I’m SUPER disappointed in the engineering of the unit.

MIDI THRU does not work correctly. It works…but it drifts in a way that simply hooking up a clock to the Slicer simply does not. That means there is something incorrect about the MIDI clock signal passing through the ModFactor.

And while the pedal works a bit more correctly (with the upgrade)  as far as effect speed is concerned…it is still in no way correct. When I can physically match up a non midi FLANGE pedal speed to the beat of what I’m playing, but can’t get that done correctly with something that claims to have digital control over a clock or speed mechanism…then that’s bad…REALLY BAD.  I’m clearly no engineer but how can something that has a speed control AND MIDI Clock control NOT have the ability to sync up its effect pattern to  a master clock? The Boss Slicer has no problem with this function at all…with the Eventide, it’s clearly science that has not been perfected yet by the engineering team….perhaps trying to do far too much and overlooking some simple basics. 

Furthermore..

As far as I can assertain, there is no way to establish the downbeat on the effect. It seems the  Active switch simply bypasses the effect and sends signal straight through…it does not turn the effect off. When the switch is pushed again to activate, it simply picks up where the effect left off in an incorrect patten as before. Using the TAP switch can sometimes help depending on effect but it’s got a weird kick in to it and on something like a square wave patterned effect, it’s a bitch to get correctly lined up in a measure of music….and of course the effect drifts quickly or doesn’t establish correct speed right off the bat. It’s close….but close does not count when you are talking about rhythm. 

Man….I’m really surprised at the poor performance of this pedal in the MIDI clock catagory. As stated before….the effects are amazing….but the MIDI functionality as far as transmitting signal through is TOTALLY botched and the Clock speed af far as effects are concerned is basically useless if it doesn’t work perfectly. If I was just going for sound…this pedal would be fine….but I wanted it as a functional tool and it seems to fail miserably in this regard. 

Lou

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