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Clock drift while synced to an external MIDI clock

Clock drift while synced to an external MIDI clock

2016-09-09 by Bruno

Hi all,

Having two Command Stations, I wanted to use one for its internal sounds, and the other for driving the external gear. However, the slave CS tends to drift away after some time. At first I thought that my MIDI setup (multiple stacked Unitors) can be the culprit, but Supernova, Z1, KS5, Blofeld and Virus were syncing just great, even when they were left unattended for minutes (Yamaha EX5 did not, but it's a known issue and new OS will be installed soon). Also, connecting MIDI OUT of master CS with the MIDI IN of the slave didn't solve the issue. I found a workaround - the famous Play/Stop trick, which immediately starts the next queued pattern (or restarts the present one) - if done in the right moment, doesn't cause any damage, though sometimes the slave CS doesn't pick the Play, which can create an interesting, though unintended effect...

Haven't tried reversing the master/slave relation yet, though I doubt it could be a solution.

Has anyone experienced similar artifacts? Any other suggestions, workarounds, proposals?

Thanks in advance,

Bruno

Re: Clock drift while synced to an external MIDI clock

2016-09-09 by Bruno

Just to clarify - when I found this out, I was using internal sounds on both CSes, so desync could not originate from any external gear. Eventually I used the same pattern on both (I have XL7 ROM in both), and I only left snare tracks (2 & 6) on the master CS. For the first minute the familiar chorus effect could have been heard, and then the desync started to appear...

2016-09-09 20:02 GMT+02:00 Bruno <brunorc@...>:
Hi all,

Having two Command Stations, I wanted to use one for its internal sounds, and the other for driving the external gear. However, the slave CS tends to drift away after some time. At first I thought that my MIDI setup (multiple stacked Unitors) can be the culprit, but Supernova, Z1, KS5, Blofeld and Virus were syncing just great, even when they were left unattended for minutes (Yamaha EX5 did not, but it's a known issue and new OS will be installed soon). Also, connecting MIDI OUT of master CS with the MIDI IN of the slave didn't solve the issue. I found a workaround - the famous Play/Stop trick, which immediately starts the next queued pattern (or restarts the present one) - if done in the right moment, doesn't cause any damage, though sometimes the slave CS doesn't pick the Play, which can create an interesting, though unintended effect...

Haven't tried reversing the master/slave relation yet, though I doubt it could be a solution.

Has anyone experienced similar artifacts? Any other suggestions, workarounds, proposals?

Thanks in advance,

Bruno

Re: Clock drift while synced to an external MIDI clock

2016-09-11 by Bruno

Nothng better than answering own posts, but:

2016-09-09 20:02 GMT+02:00 Bruno <brunorc@...>:
Haven't tried reversing the master/slave relation yet, though I doubt it could be a solution.

It is. My XL-7 can be happily synced to my MP-7, but not the other way round. I have no idea why, as both seem to have the same OS.

Synchronically yours,

Bruno