Elektron-Users

teknobryan wrote:
I don't get it. All these people complaining about bad timing from a PC/Mac....

Just use a TM-1!!! That's what Elektron made it for!!!!!

So do your tests show that it actually helps?
How much of an improvement in jitter can we expect for the situation Ableton/PC=clock, Machinedrum=slave?

I haven't actually measured...but I can definetly HEAR a difference. It seems spot on. Seriously. Dead on. And I am using Ableton Live too. I can push the little "Turbo" button and switch back and forth and it's a definite improvement.

When you go into the Elektron sysex software it tells you how much better timing you get (I guess it varies with different computers). Anyways, it says mine is 10x tighter. On their website it claims that you can get anywhere from 8x to 10x better midi timing. And they aren't kidding...

You don' have to make a audio click to midi converter. Just save $100 and get one of these things.

well your information is enough to get my interest but not detailed enough to have me sending money yet. You say its reporting a 10X figure... but is that 10x "tighter" or just 10x more throughput?

There is a big difference between increasing the rate at which midi is sent out, and increasing the accuracy of the timing pulses; it depends on many factors. (At first glance, it would depend on whether the jitter is mainly introduced before/after Live communicates midi to the TM-1 driver... and whether the TM-1 driver is able to remain tight despite running on windows, and able to overcome problems associated with trying to send a tight signal over usb.)

If someone can direct me to measured figures showing a big improvement for midi clock jitter From ableton/pc To sps-1, they will help make a TM-1 sale, that's for sure.

If you want to know all the technical details just read the Elektron website. I don't work for them, I don't know all the details.

I think $100 is a fair price though.

Seppe2097 wrote:
Hello,

Yes indeed, the problem is that jumping BPM in the MD.

You say that's normal? It' s like a beginner DJ who drunk to much and can't beatmix 2 records in a decent way!

The signal coming out of the MD is not in perfect sync with what i am playing in my sequencer. It looses pitch and jumps around, so i am not able to make decent, synced recorded audio loops. Routed or recorded MD audio won't play in perfect sync with my other audio material played by Live and the sounds coming out of my Vst's.

So when the MD isn't in perfect sync, i can't record it... Maybe you can fix these afterward with audio editing but that's very hard and frustrating work! And still, jumping BPM in a live setup?

All the best,

S.

yes, its normal to an extent.. I am slaving the MD to a roland sbx-80 which has a notoriously unstable clock, i prefer to think of it as natural swing though :-D so the bpm reading on the MD shuffles about 84.0, 84.1, 84.2 in cycles. basically this is the MD recalculating and adjusting to the incoming midi clock. if you are getting more than 3 numbers on the BPM screen on the MD then its a really sloppy master clock! I have tried syncing ableton to the MD many moons ago and was never happy with the results. [EDIT: also no luck with other hardware sequencers and PC sync eg emu px-7, rm1x] so, the best thing I found was just to run standalone VSTs if you want some computer synthesis or sampling VSTs then assign them a midi channel and sequence them from the MD. you should be able to get the latency down near 1ms using ASIO drivers.
once again.. good luck!

or you could just get the TM-1.

Since no one seems to believe me:

quote from Elektron's website

"It is designed especially with the Machinedrum and the Monomachine in mind, but it will work perfectly with any MIDI standard gear. Apart from its classy looks and rugged brushed aluminum and steel construction, the Elektron Turbocharged protocol allows MIDI timing and bandwidth to be up to 10x more accurate."

I use it with Ableton Live on a Mac and I am amazed at the tightness.

teknobryan wrote:
or you could just get the TM-1.

Since no one seems to believe me:

quote from Elektron's website

"It is designed especially with the Machinedrum and the Monomachine in mind, but it will work perfectly with any MIDI standard gear. Apart from its classy looks and rugged brushed aluminum and steel construction, the Elektron Turbocharged protocol allows MIDI timing and bandwidth to be up to 10x more accurate."

I use it with Ableton Live on a Mac and I am amazed at the tightness.

pardon for being inquisitive, need not ableton live support the turbo midi protocol for any real effect? this is how I have understood it, so elektron has invited other manufacturers to do so..

it?s still a great gizmo for sample loading!

no. As long as the Turbo Midi Light is on it's "Turbo Midi".

I can hear the difference as well.

teknobryan, i appreciate your experiences and it has surely piqued my interest, but your explanations are not concrete or detailed enough to convince many of us that we can simply buy this TM-1 and it will 'just work'.


I am still all ears if anyone can explain further in a concrete way. No offense by this, but if you put a button/light on something labeled 'press here for great timing', people are pretty much guaranteed to hear a result.

((ps. I am thinking there is a reason elektron has only written::
"*allows* timing [...] to be *up to* 10x more"..
If you look at the wording, there are a lot of 'maybes' and 'depending' implied in there.

Am I wrong about that, elektronians? ))

Teknobryan, I don?t question that you have a great sync but it does not have anything to do with the turbomidi button. Not together with Live, since Live has no idea what turbomidi is.