Tempo drift while in USB sync mode (Cubase 5)

[ambeson]

Hello all,

I recently bought the BSP and I'm having a few problems. Bizarrely, the tempo seems to drift by 1/2 BPM either way, when the unit is set to USB sync (as slave to Cubase 5). I've used it in Ableton without issue, so I'm assuming the fault lies in Cubase more so than the BSP.
I've fiddled around with the MIDI sync settings in Cubase (a little out of my depth to be frank), but to no avail. Anyone know where I'm going wrong? Any tips greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[Terrym]

Hi, have the same problem with drifting but i also think its to do with cubase . i checked this in cubase 6 ,7,and 8 and they all do the same to the bsp .

i will ask the team if they know about this


regards


Terrym

[ambeson]

Hi Terry,

Thanks for the reply, and glad I'm not the only one!

Please let me know if you get a helpful reply from the guys.

Thanks

[Zeitschleife]

Hi,

have the same problem here with Cubase 7.5 and Presonus Studio One 3.

If you record the melody in the DAW the notes are in correct time position but if you use USB or MIDI sync it drifted a little bit

[jahasw]

Sorry to invade this thread, but i think this might be related and I'm also using external sync
from computer.

I'm having a tempo drift issue on Linux platform using Linear Time Code to MIDI sync
on Ardour DAW via USB-MIDI.

I have a multitrack sending LTC to Ardour, which sends MIDI timekeeping via jackd to either
directly to Beatstep Pro USB port, or via USB to my MIDI keyboard. So basically the signal chain is:
mtr/ltc -> ardour/computer -> midikb/mmc/mtc -> bsp/midi -> Roland SH-32.
SH-32 is configured for external clock via MIDI in.


Jackd is configured for realtime, but I too am experiencing slight tempo drift, the tempo display
occasionally switches between 119 and 120 bpm, when using 120bpm tempo from Ardour v4.0.509.
Sometimes DAW or BSP  tries to catch up on the clock and that's when problems occur.

Symptoms from the drift and consequent adjustment are hanging midi notes and
screwed up delay and other effects on the SH-32.

This could be a real pain to fix, but using a multitasking computer with BSP something needs to be fixed to
make this better.

Thanks for listening,
jahasw

[aaron317]

If anyone is still interested, I think this is related.

I believe I've noticed drift in the midi coming from the unit - regardless of sync. I tested this with some interesting results. This is still a problem.

2017 BSP with 2.0.0.2 firmware
USB connection
Ableton Live 9
Windows 10

Experiment:
-DAW Recording quantization OFF
-BSP Sync OFF
-BSP Sync ON and BSP set as both Master and Slave
-Play a 16 step sequence of a single note playing 16th notes on the BSP drum sequencer at 120bpm
-Record via USB to DAW midi clip for 32 measures in length

Observation:
-Regardless of sync, each note can be easily seen to have drifted forward and backward by a few ms each in seemingly random intervals in the midi clip
-It's important to note that the sequence did not drift out of tempo, but rather each note had drifted by a few ms
-Same degree of drift regardless of sync or master/slave

I would love to have some actual control over the timing of my patterns coming from the BSP, but alas. My only conclusion is I have to either settle with recording quantization, quantize after the fact, or go with the arguably "human" feel that this drift provides. I want to be able to use the time shift features of the BSP to refine the feel of patterns, but these solutions would obliterate that work.

For the record, I have not yet tested the accuracy of the timing, re: the drift.

Thoughts?

[I grec]

Hi aaron317,

-BSP Sync OFF
-BSP Sync ON and BSP set as both Master and Slave

what does that mean?

I think what you are talking about is called jitter. Moreover, have you tried changing your audio card latencies settings? It seems Ableton Live takes it into account, even in MIDI.

regards,
Y.