Ableton Forum

Hello there,

I hope this question isn't one that newbies ask every few days and regulars 'tut' and 'sigh' and call you a wally but a google search returned nothing helpful....

Has anyone had success syncing a 606 with Live?

I guessed I needed to specify a midi-out port in Live's preferences to 'Sync' and have the 606's sync switch on 'Input' but this doesn't seem to work.

Anyone had any luck? I'd be very grateful for your info!

Thanks

Mike

you can't usually midi a TR606 (if thats what you're on about) - unless its had a (relatively expensive) retrofit by Kenton Electronics or similar which you'll be able to spot beacause it will have two ports clearly labelled 'midi in' and 'midi out'.
It is possible that you are connecting the midi cable to the 'sync' out of the 606 ?
If so it won't work. This was a Roland system for connecting together the 303 and the 606 and a few other bits of kit of the same vintage.
You can buy a midi-to-cv converter with a sync24 output (such as the Kenton pro-one) which works well.

Otherwise you're better off just programming it, recording it and looping it in Live.

Hope that helps, and hasn't insulted your intelligence, because there is another 606 out there which I missed (not unlikely as Roland seem to be endlessly trading on namesake variations of the 303 and 808)

Thanks, Guy. That makes perfect sense. Yes I was trying to use the standard sync.

I will consider the converter for sure, but maybe that's a bit of a luxury!

Thanks for your help.. mike

fuzzpedal wrote:Thanks, Guy. That makes perfect sense. Yes I was trying to use the standard sync.

I will consider the converter for sure, but maybe that's a bit of a luxury!

Thanks for your help.. mike

no problem, glad to help.
Usually these converters will run sync 24 in addition to CV., so if you do buy one it will have the added bonus of being able to trigger an SH101, SH09, etc etc as well.
But yeah its a luxury

fuzzpedal wrote:Thanks, Guy. That makes perfect sense. Yes I was trying to use the standard sync.

I will consider the converter for sure, but maybe that's a bit of a luxury!

Thanks for your help.. mike

i have a busted 707 that sends midi and din sync. the sequencer is busted buy the clock is solid.

something to keep an eye out for, i'm not sure if any of the other boxes were able to send midi and din sync simultaneously

if you are in the market for a controller, there is a fabu;oes one called bitstream 3x that offers sync

drumstation works as a midi to dinsync converter. but it's kinda pricey for 808 and 909 sounds only. even though... I still want one.

I don't think the 606 has tape sync, but my mc-202 does and when I bought it I was in a similar situation as you. it only had din sync capabilities. my way around that was record some of the tape sync pulse out of the 202 and loop it in live using pitch warp mode. then out of live goes the tape sync pulse to the 202 and everything is rock solid. the beauty of the pitch warp mode is if I change the tempo in live the sync pulse changes accordingly and likewise the 202 syncs to the new tempo.

grab a din synch converter, i have tried both 707 and bitstream options, bitstream is more reliable than 707

could you not sample and warp??

arctic ranger wrote:could you not sample and warp??

Of course but it would be much nicer to have it synced in order to 'jam' with Live sessions and not be locked into having loads of fixed loops.

hi all,

just rebirthing this post after only 12 years. I'm in a similar situation with a tr606 that I've recently acquired. I use an emagic amt8 midi interface using several hardware units all synced and linked through Live just fine.

With the 606 I bought a special DIN SYNC cable along with a basic midi to din sync out converter bought on ebay. So the din sync cable is running out of the sync out (606) into the converter and then from midi in on the converter to a midi output on my amt8.

THe 606 plays and stops on the space bar command but the tempo is all off still. Any pointers on this at all please..?? Will I need to get this midi retro fitted ?