RG
Offline
Milwaukee, WI

So I've always been one to sync my sequencer directly to gear, but lately I've been toying with the idea of syncing the sequencer to emulated gear/renoise via midi-to-usb. Well, I'm running VIsta (and XP on a separate PC) and I'm getting a lot of what I think is referred to as "jitter." Basically when using the sequencer with a synth or drum machine the timing is rock-solid. If I use the sequencer to trigger Renoise or WinUAE (or anything else for that matter) notes are skipped/or sped up. In short, the timing is never consistent. It doesn't seem as though it's a setting within Renoise or WinUAE because when I open a program such as Illustrator the timing will get worse, almost like I no longer have sufficient memory. This is certainly not the case.

I just did a whole afternoon's worth of reading on the subject and I basically got nowhere (short of "Windows sucks"). At first I thought it was the cable I was using but it's starting to seem more like a common problem with Windows based machines as the cables work fine on the Macbook. Might it have something to do with emulated ports? Has anyone else encountered this issue?

I swear I will buy drinks for the person that can help me solve this problem.

goonzy
Offline
PARIS

Check your DPClatency.. I spent month accusing my Hardsid4U of bad design whil it was my Bios's fault (causing ultra high DPC spikes, and therefore irregular latency on USB ports). Use dpclat.exe if you're on XP or latmon if you're on Vista/7

Moreover, USB2midi timers can ben unaccurate compred to higher grade midi interfaes but if the cable works well on other computers, DPC could be the clue.

Emar
Offline
☺☺☺

is it a midi-to-usb CABLE or INTERFACE?  the cables blow big time when it comes to their midi in. I have a yamaha somthing and an m-audio uno and i can say the same thing about them when slaving both renoise and ableton to hardware

RG
Offline
Milwaukee, WI

Hey, thanks guys!

Yeah, it's a cable. I'll be testing an interface in a few weeks, so I guess we'll see if this solves anything. I was thinking about an M-Audio cable as an alternative but it seems like this wouldn't solve much.

@goonzy: I'll test those options right now. Also, I'm really liking that Atari ST mix. Nice work.

goonzy
Offline
PARIS

hehe thxx.. Amiga mix is coming... sooner or later smile

Trollcat
Offline
RG wrote:

Might it have something to do with emulated ports? Has anyone else encountered this issue?

I'm not sure if it relates to your problem, but in the past I've had issues with MIDI timing due to IRQ sharing under XP: look in Device Manager, select View -> Resources by connection, see if a bunch of stuff has the same number in the IRQ section... maybe you'll need to do some dabbling in your BIOS to ensure that the USB controller your MIDI cable is connected to has it's own IRQ?

Tonka
Offline

I went around the block a few times with this issue when I first got back into using hardware again (I swear that Win 98 running Octamed had tighter timing than XP)!!!

1)  Sorry to break it to you, but Renoise just isn't very good with lots of MIDI.  I ran tests on 3 different PC's against Cubase SX and Dreamstation and Renoise was just totally pants with whatever interface or PC I used.  True story.  Don't get me wrong - I love the program and have paid twice for the registered version over the years, but it's not a goto sequencer for MIDI.  Sincerely wish it was though...

2)  The best timing I've gotten using an XP PC is with Cubase SX and the MIDEX 8 interface.  Totally rock solid.

All sequencers / computers seem to have a different 'vibe'.  I also ran tests with an Atari ST and Amiga.  I honestly think that the Amiga running Octamed had the best 'vibe' out of the lot.  Nice solid timing but also something else happening there too - just sounded more 'organic' than the Atari or PC.  XP and MIDEX is more practical, though

3)  Windows generally sucks for MIDI - it's true.  Tracking + MIDI + Windows is currently a non-event.  If you *must* use a tracker with MIDI, I'd have to recommend the Amiga + Octamed.

Good luck.  yikes)

e.s.c.
Offline
IL, US
Tonka wrote:

3)  Windows generally sucks for MIDI - it's true.  Tracking + MIDI + Windows is currently a non-event.  If you *must* use a tracker with MIDI, I'd have to recommend the Amiga + Octamed.

or piggy on a gp2x w/ piggy->midi smile