Recording midi out into a DAW is slightly off grid..a design feature?

[pinki]

If I record the midi output of BSP into a DAW the results will always be very slightly different and very slightly off the grid. This is with BSP as clock master for the DAW.

So is the BSP clock deliberately like that to produce a human feel?
Or is it clock jitter?
Or is it a problem of my DAW (Bitwig2)

Somehow I prefer the BSP sequencer to any other in terms of its 'feel' and I was wondering if this is why?

[megamarkd]

What firmware are you on?  The early firmware was very jittery.

[pinki]

Firmware is the very latest.

[megamarkd]

Dunno then, I've not noticed any audible jitter since it was 'fixed' some updates ago, but I also haven't recorded it into another sequencer for a very long time either.  In the early days I would and noticed it was very out then.
Only thing I could think to check is the swing setting.  I don't use DAW's so can't comment on that side of things.  All I can suggest is try recording using a different DAW and see if the same jitter occurs.  In my experience no clock is rock solid on any hardware sequencer, though some are closer than others.

[LBH]

If it's off the DAW grid with the same amount at the same side of the beat, then i would believe it's about the DAW, that might need a manual setting to compensate for a latency, that will never be zero.

Using quantized recording may also be a solution, unless you want and use swing.

[pinki]

It's not consistently off..I have compensated in the DAW to get it more or less on grid..it's just slightly out..differently..each time.
And Ive tried it in two DAWs with the same results.
I'm just curious really..if it's design, clock jitter or my set up.

I am surprised no-one has done this test before..I searched the whole forum.

Thanks!

[LBH]

Perhaps others don't care, if they get a result they like, as you apparantly does too. But yes i can for example matter for your next buy, or to understand your setup.

I don't have a Beatstep or any other unit like it, so i can't tell what's going on.
And i don't have Bitwig either.

Just some things i would look at:

Do you use Beatsteps Swing feature like megamarkd ask about?

Have you tried other units that's not Beatstep and Arturias?

What if you use your DAW as Master instead of Beatstep?

Does your DAW have any sync settings to try out?

[pinki]

Like I said, I'm just curious really.

Also, I have tried with two different DAWs, with the same results.

(Swing is not engaged at all)

Have not compared to using the DAW as master clock. That will be interesting.(well for me anyhow!)
Both DAWs have sync setting options but none make any difference to the results.

Edit: so now done the same with Bitwig as master clock and the results are much tighter to the grid ..not perfect but definitely closer and more consistently in the same direction in terms of misplacement. So it looks like the BSP has a bit of a jittery clock..not necessarily a bad thing as I'm not seeking a machine-like execution and of course it is easy to quantize the input to any DAW if that's what one seeks.

Just good to know..the BSP looks close to how I would 'perform' it which maybe explains why I like it!

[LBH]

It could be nice, if you put your potentiel findings in this thread, as it could be interesting, for all us who are curious.

[pinki]

And I have! The BSP has a jittery clock but that's not a bad thing as it has a humanness about it....

[LBH]

Thanks.

So it's not jittery, if you use your DAW as a master clock? Or how did you find out?

[pinki]

The DAW as master clock is much less jittery.

I synced the BSP via USB to Bitwig's master clock and ran the same experiments.

[LBH]

Thanks.