Midi Sync = Midi Headf$*K!!!

aerobiotic · Post by **aerobiotic** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:40 am

I have a problem syncin 2 machines, Im using a laptop running L6 with a M-audio audiophile s-card and another laptop running L6 with a novation x-station... both the novation and the audiophile have midi I/O but with many trials Nothing seems to work... can anyone help? One is set to slave and the other to master...The audiophile connected to master machine and recieving midi from the master laptop, then audiophile midi out running to x-station via midi cable to midi in and slave laptop reading midi in from x-stations midi in port (midi preference settings "in = x-station").... "ext" button pressed on master or slave (either way not working in other configoration eg: "x-station system master, audiophile slave" ) but no sync!!!! ahhhhhhh

If you need more details let me know, just at work atm and need to type this up quick....

aerobiotic · Post by **aerobiotic** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 2:38 am

So 40 views and still no clues.. Surely somebody knows where im going wrong! Can anyone at least explain the config i should be using with the equipment specified above..?

theque · Post by **theque** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 5:13 am

all sounds good, just keep fucking around with different options, i lost a lot of hair with the same problem, try swithching the master and slave around. sounds silly but i had to keep doing playing around with it for ages. what you have should work but it is really fidgety with live. keep trying you will get it.

mac or pc?

aerobiotic · Post by **aerobiotic** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 5:57 am

1x sony vaio, 1x dell, 1x audiophile, 1x korg microkontrol, 1x novation x-station, 1x midi lead..

PeteJM · Post by **PeteJM** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:46 pm

Are you sure you have the sync turned on in the MIDI sync page of the preferences dialog for the relevant MIDI input & output ports? Do you get the flashing dots next to the EXT button at all?

aerobiotic · Post by **aerobiotic** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:58 pm

We get the flashing ext lights its set up by the book, exactly how the manual says..

stjohn · Post by **stjohn** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:15 am

be wary of using 3rd party plugins in places... my midi was all over the place until i noticed it was me puttin plugins on differnt channels therefore adding a latency

laird · Post by **laird** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 3:29 pm

Sounds like you are sending MIDI data the wrong direction.
Think of MIDI as a one-way street.

First off, keep it simple. Can you sync anything to anything? Like laptop A to the X-station?

Here's what I'd do:

Laptop A = master (transmit MIDI time code)
USB cable connects to X-station (does the X-station sync its delay to the tempo of Live?? it should)
MIDI cable from X-station OUT to the audiophile MIDI IN
laptop B set to slave mode (EXT source)

when you say "then audiophile midi out running to x-station via midi cable to midi in and slave laptop reading midi in from x-stations midi in port (midi preference settings "in = x-station").... " the audiophile is NOT, I repeat NOT receiving MIDI Time Code from the master, you have the MIDI cables in the wrong ports. You are trying to send MIDI data the wrong way down a one-way street.

To send MIDI time code from laptop A to the audiophile, you need to send MIDI via laptaop A's MIDI OUT (which is the X-station), and connect that to laptop B's MIDI IN (the audiophile card, which has two unlabelled midi ports, right? Make sure you have the right one!)

As you wrote it, you have X-station in connected to audiophile midi in... in which case the audiophile laptop would have to be set as master, but you say it is connected to the master. Again, keep it simple. Try syncing one synth to one computer first, and then go from there.

zeropoint · Post by **zeropoint** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:58 pm

Have you got the sync buttons turned on for the correct ports on both machines?

Laptop A Master connected to Audiophile via USB
Laptop A Midi Prefs Sync button on on Audiophile Out
Cable Midi Out from Audiophile to Midi In on X Station

Laptop B Slave
Midi Prefs Sync button on on X Station In
EXT button on

Turn Metronome on on both laptops and adjust midi sync delay till the ticks become one.......

Check your midi ins and outs are set up correctly as the previous poster mentioned