Tap tempo sync

zeropoint · Post by **zeropoint** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 4:38 pm

has anyone achieved any reliable results with this for say synching to decks?? Been trying it recently....want to do decks to laptop handovers -but it's so erratic as to be virtullay unusable for this purpose. Have any of you had any experience with Redsounds microsync for the same job? Thanks

Tim

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 11:37 pm

best method that i have found is do a few bars of tapping to find an estimate of the tempo.

lets say its 135bpm.

go into arranger view, and assign the Master tempo in the Main channel as miminum 130bpm and maximum 140bpm. now asssign master tempo to a midi Knob or if you can - a reversed slider (drawbar style, down is more, up is less), this can mimmick a Technics pitch control. Hoipefully you own a midi controller with knobs or sliders.

assigning 130 as mimimum and 140 as max is about +/- 4% of 135bpm.
now since i use an Evolution UC-33, the sliders are about half the size of the Technics' pitch control, so the response is very similar.

start live and ride the pitch as if it were a turntable. works like a charm. =D

Clearscreen · Post by **Clearscreen** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 5:33 am

i've been using a redsound voyager for the last couple of weeks to synchronise with a dj and it works really well. it can drift a little during instrumental breaks but if theres drum hits its fine.
i've been filtering the signal from the dj with a noise gate to isolate the hits a bit and then an ableton utility plug to crank the gain up, as i've found it needs a pretty hot signal to detect the beat.
the only hardish part is getting the beats lined up at the start, as this model doesn't have as good a nudge/brake setup as the microsync seems to have, but once its in line its seems pretty hard to shake and doesn't need a lot of attention to keep doin its job.
the federation pro apparently can also do it, so if you see one cheap it might be worth getting.

rEalm · Post by **rEalm** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:14 pm

Once you get the voyager locked and the laptop playing back in sync, put the Voyager into freewheeling mode and you don't have to worry about drifting during instrumental drops. You can still use the nudge buttons too if you need them. I have a MicroSync, and I believe the voyager has all the same features, no?

Clearscreen · Post by **Clearscreen** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 8:45 am

i haven't actually used a microsync, but they seem to have a couple extra buttons marked push/pull which sound pretty useful compared to the bpm +/- buttons on a voyager. still, it works good enough.

Lucid · Post by **Lucid** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 8:54 am

How's that Quatafire working out for you, Clearscreen? Do you like the sound quality? Is it stable? What usable latencies have you been able to achieve? Thanks for any info you can share.

Clearscreen · Post by **Clearscreen** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 7:39 am

The Quatafires excellent in my book!! i'm no sound engineer but the output and stability is good enough for me to be planning to use it for live gigs till i can afford a fireface or something.
so far i haven't had the drivers crash for any reason and i'm using 4ms latency all the time. this lets me get to about 75-80% cpu if i need it before it glitchs at all. it has a setting for 2ms which i can use, but the cpu meter runs a fair bit higher and limits me a bit too much. all in all not too bad for an two year old p4m 1.4 Ghz lappy.
all the inputs and outputs work fine, and the two sets of midi ins/outs have made life bit easier due to the flexibility it gives me.
i have to admit it felt like a bit of a gamble trying this thing originally, as esi has a REALLY BAD reputation for drivers, but its worked without a hitch from the installation onwards - in fact it was probably the easiest hardware driver install i've had, even if the manual is a little vague...
the distributor here in melb. loaded the latest firmware for me, and the word from their tech support was that the latest driver/firmware works great with xp, but not the best in osx. supposedly they're working on that, but we'll see...