Latency with External Sequencer

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[chris b]
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 1:45 pm

Latency with External Sequencer

Post by [chris b] » Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:49 am

I recently sold my Push 2 on the premise that I have a digitakt, digitone and SL 49 Mk3 that I can use for sequencing, and I have pads and pots with decent Ableton integration on the SL. Besides that, I want an MPC One and have no space for both that and a Push.

The problem I have is that if I want to use any of the external sequencers on vsts, and record the midi into Ableton I have ~ 20-30ms of latency that I don't know how to fix.

I've watched this video on youtube which suggests adding a track delay to compensate for the latency, but it does absolutely nothing for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNlketmMGyA

Any ideas where I'm going wrong? I contacted Novation for support, but the response was a virtual shrug of the shoulders and told that's just how it is.

Setup:

Ableton Live 10 and 11
Windows 10 Desktop PC
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
16GB RAM
Novation SL Mk3 49 via USB
Elektron Digitakt/Digitone via USB
Behringer XR18 interface @ 64 sample buffer size
48kHz sample rate
Input latency 2.83ms
Output latency 2.5ms
Ableton driver error compensation 1.25ms
Delay compensation enabled
Reduced latency when monitoring enabled

Thanks in advance.

[chris b]
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 1:45 pm

Re: Latency with External Sequencer

Post by [chris b] » Fri Jul 30, 2021 6:54 pm

I think I've worked it out. The video above was only valid when using the external device.

For VST's I need to use this:

Step 4: Adjust the MIDI Clock Sync delay
Because of a number of factors, including audio buffer sizes both in Live and in the connected device, the timing of the two will probably be slightly offset. You can correct the timing by adjusting the MIDI Clock Sync Delay.

Sync_delay.png

Unfold the MIDI port connected to your external device.
Activate the metronome in Live and on the device which you are syncing with Live. If this is a drum machine or other device without an in-built metronome, you can create a simple pattern with an accent on each beat instead.
Now adjust the MIDI Clock Sync Delay until both metronomes are perfectly aligned.
Note: Once you press play, it will take a couple of measures before both tempi align and settle on a stable value.

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