Fucking Impossible To Sync Ableton With External Hardware

[BASSbüro]

relevant setup:

desktop evolver synth
http://www.davesmithinstruments.com/evolver/photos.html

audio control 1 usb-interface
http://www.native-instruments.com/index ... iokontrol1

connections:

audio control 1 usb-interface -> midi-out -> desktop evolver synth -> midi-in

ableton:

in preferences midi ports output audio control sync-button = on, midi-clock-sync-delay = varied between 20 - 130 ms, midi-clock-typ = pattern

how i work:

gambling top-down through scenes with different audio-clips. i don't use midi-clips and don't send midi-devices to the evolver. i only send the midi-clock to the evolver and play patterns in the evolver and want to stay in sync with the rest of the ableton project.

problem:

always for a first initation, i have to launch the first scene in ableton and have to manually configure the midi-clock-sync-delay in the preferences with the evolver. it's like old-school-record-beat-matching. so once i've reach the point where ableton keep in sync with the evolver - that's mostly with a midi-clock-sync-delay varied between 20 - 130 ms - i'm thinking ok, i'm fine.......

but

after 10 - 15 min. gambling through scenes, i always lost the midi-clock and the hole shit is in sync like tom novy ist beat-matching. so once again, i have to manually set the midi-clock in the preferences, once again, i'm fine, after 10 - 15 min. lost the midi-clock again......and again, again, again, again, and again....

come on abes, that fucking sucks!

so a) what's the problem in here and b) is it possible to assign the midi-clock-sync-delay to a midi-command so during a set i can manually arrange the delay (like beatmatching) when i feel the external hardware gets out of sync?

thanx in advance!

[capo-wear-i]

Possibly nothing to do with Ableton (sync works fine here, and on other setups i've used)

Could it be the Audio1 interface and it's dodgy MIDI drivers ?

Try using a different Midi interface to output the MIDI clock to yr synth.

[BASSbüro]

could be. will try another midi-interface......

thanx!

[Tarekith]

I've been syncing my Evolver desktop with Live via my Ultralite's midi out and an Elektron TM-1 interface and it's working fine. My guess is it's the Control1.

[BASSbüro]

thanx tarekith.......i don't want to change the audio-interface, cuz the audio kontrol 1 is the bomb in the club concerning to audio-quality and sound-impact.

so i have to buy a cheap usb-midi-interface especially for the midi-clock....damn.....

hope that will work!

[Tarekith]

You can get a M-Audio Midisport 1x1 (sometimes called the Uno) for like $25, so not too bad.

[icedsushi]

Thank you for making this thread! I've got this too. Except my timing is solid until I close the Live Set and go to reopen it again. Ever since midi was first introduced to Live in ver 4. Over the years, I've tried all the following midi interfaces (using the latest drivers) over the years and still have the problem:

Emagic amt8
Motu fastlane
Motu 828mkII
Motu micro express
Elektron TM-1

So don't tell me it's the midi interface/drivers!

Let's say -30ms is giving me perfect sync with my hardware drum machine. If I save the Live Set, shut down the computer and reopen the set next day, now I might need -54 or something like that to get it in sync. Come back and open the set the day after that and now it needs to be at -26.

The timing is rock solid forever as long as the set stays open! Only when I quit live and reopen the set do I have to retest and set a new midi-clock-sync delay.

Another effect is that the larger my Live Set gets, the more midi clock delay I will need when I reopen the set.

I deal with it by recording quantized midi quarter notes to audio and resetting my midi clock delay EVERY single time I open a Live set that uses hardware. But should we really need to do be doing this?!

[BASSbüro]

that's what i'm talking about, so i feel you icedsushi. i'll test the midisport 1x1 from m-audio like tarekith mentioned above. if that doesn't solve the problem, there must be another road works.......

all i can say now is that i lost always the midi-clock and the clock-delay variegate between 20ms and 130ms. and if you close the set and re-open it, the hole shit is totally unsync and you have to manually re-sync it. that's a poor-work-around and don't solve the problem at all......

[icedsushi]

Ah so you are getting good sync while you have your set open, just like me. But when you close the set and reopen it, it needs re-synced...

We have the exact same problem!

Please report back your luck with trying another interface. Yeah right "it's your midi interface" blah blah blah. Look at all the ones I tried! Are they ALL bad interfaces?!

I've tried several different hardware synths and drum machines too, so don't even go there saying it's the synth. Does it with any and every piece of hardware I hook up, vintage or brand new.

I've troubleshooted this for years and tried everything under the sun. This is something within Live, plain and simple.

[BASSbüro]

works much better here with a m-audio midisport 2x2. didn't lost the midi-clock in the last few hours.........

[icedsushi]

How about when you re-open the Live set after shutting down the computer?

Does this mean after all the interfaces I tried, they are all crap and I need to try the midisport?

[BASSbüro]

when i re-open the live set after shutting down the set is still in sync. no problem here. but i have a different set-up than you: you work with drum-machine and i work with an evolver-synth.

it's always a fight to sync the hole shit. in my case, the midisport was the answer. but when i hook up a second synth over the midisport-interface, the midi-clock become unstable, but that's another story........

so my estimation is still, there's something wrong with the ableton midi-clock.

[justin]

it's always a fight to sync the hole shit. in my case, the midisport was the answer. but when i hook up a second synth over the midisport-interface, the midi-clock become unstable, but that's another story........

so my estimation is still, there's something wrong with the ableton midi-clock.

i have also a midisport 2x2, and apparently there is only 1 chip that processes both midi ports so its likely to struggle if you send it lots of midi data (like midi clock messages on one port and note messages on the other). cheapo design/manufacturing...

j

[nicogrubert]

@ bassbüro
I got a turbo MIDI interface by elektron (see: http://www.elektron.se/products/?prod=EA_TM-TM-1).
Let's try this tomorrow at our session and see if it solve the problem...

till later...

[icedsushi]

you work with drum-machine and i work with an evolver-synth.

Actually, I used to have the polyevolver and a Virus! And a few other synths which I still have like the Sidstation. Trust me, I've tested it with every possible hardware config you could imagine. Different brands hardware, different drum machines, different midi interfaces (firewire and usb), different synths. Did I leave anything out? Same crap after I close the set! And adding more clips or plugins to the set change the delay setting, usually longer.

Maybe I need to buy a midisport with ONLY a desktop evolver plugged into it because that's the only specific combination that will work.

I'm beggining to think the midi clock delay needs to be at a different setting for each level of the CPU meter. But it latches onto the a static setting with a varying CPU as long as the set is open.

I've been dealing with this for so long, that's my conclusion...

Oh and btw. did I say yet...It's not the hardware!!!