You sir are a genius!! That solved the problem instantly although not quite sure why.
Must be a bug due to the latency compensation settings.
hopefully ableton will get this sorted soon, but this is great as a temporary work around.
Having the same problem here in repeat mode, absolutely refuses to catch the first note even on the next time round the loop. it will only record the first note using repeat if you hold down your note before you start recording a new clip. It behaves this way in drum racks and instruments. anyone ...