[sdiy] Reliable MIDI recording app for PC.. Or my Sonar X3 Pro DAW is not set correctly..

[John Speth]

Yep, that's a weird one. I use the new free Sonar so I'm familiar with 
your sequencer (pretty much the same, I think).

It looks like you're filtering MIDI well. It appears like Sonar is 
somehow loading up your MIDI output stream with useless output data or 
perhaps the MIDI data is triggering some sort of errant behavior 
(everybody who uses Cakewalk/Sonar a lot should be accustomed to the 
occasional failure due to bugs). I can't imagine what could be happening 
in that regard. If it was me, I'd be eager to see the MIDI data.

You could change your MIDI block size. Large blocks lead to smoother 
playback but higher latency. Small blocks lead to stuttering playback 
but lower latency. For debug purposes, use a larger block size. It looks 
like your block size is configured for 64 msec. I don't know what number 
of samples that translates to because the sample rate is not specified. 
At 44.1kHz SR, that's 2800 samples which seems like plenty for playback. 
I would turn off "Always Echo Current MIDI Track" during playback for 
testing to eliminate one variable.

Do the hesitations happen in the same way each time when you start 
playback?  If so, take a look at the event list view of your output 
tracks. You might see built-in gaps. I'd take a look at the event list 
regardless of when the hesitations happen.

If that doesn't reveal anything, try this proposal: Send output to a 
MIDI monitor, and take a look at the time stamps. You will need to 
compare the timing you desire (exactly what you see in your event list) 
with the time stamps your MIDI monitor tells you. I can't advise on 
which MIDI monitor you should use as I rarely use them. I use one I 
wrote myself. They are simple to create if you have the right skills and 
tools.

Also, take a look at loopMIDI by Tobias Erichsen. LoopMIDI is a virtual 
MIDI port to which you can send MIDI output and then also supply the 
loopMIDI virtual input port to your MIDI monitor.

I wonder: Does anybody know if there is a good MIDI Spy program that can 
monitor a MIDI stream without breaking/inserting MIDI connection during 
normal use?

If everything looks good at this stage, I'd watch the Performance tab to 
see that your disk and/or CPU is not maxxing out.

Beyond that, I dunno.

Good luck.

JJS

On 10/29/2025 9:37 AM, Jean-Pierre Desrochers via Synth-diy wrote:
>
> Hi lists,
>
> A while ago I built a MIDI piano roll player
> that can read old piano rolls and play them through its dedicated MIDI 
> out.
>
> The unit has 2 parallel MIDI outputs.
>
> The first MIDI output is wired to a small Yamaha P50m MIDI piano 
> module with speakers.
>
> The second MIDI output is sending the same signal
> to my Sonar X3 Pro DAW to record all the played MIDI notes
> so I can save the song in a .MID file. Fine.
>
> Here is my problem:
>
> When I listen and look at a fast playing piano roll
> I can see all the notes on the paper roll are correctly playing
> on the Yamaha module with no lags.
> That means that my player CPU is doing its job correctly
> and the MIDI output is reliable.
>
> But after recording a roll in my DAW and playing it back
> using a piano plugin and noticed intermittent lags
> recorded in the MIDI track.
> I use a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 USB audio device with MIDI.
>
> It’s connected in a USB3 connector on my PC.
>
> And the settings in my Sonar X3 Pro are set to ASIO USB.
>
> I thought this could be caused by some kind of timing precision
> or ‘Snap’ option selected that should not be..
>
> The set timing was at ¼ in my last MIDI recordings
>
> And maybe should be much higher (like 1/32 Triplet) ?
>
> I don’t know what to do with this issue..
>
> I was thinking of using a separate app that would be easy and reliable
> outside my Sonar.. But I think it’s not the way I should take.
>
>
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