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Midi Latency, was Re: Bob Sellon JamMan upgrade was midi-locked delays and stuff
> Interesting comments from Bob regarding the whole MIDI latency issue in
the
> JamBoy. To be fair, I have found that the MIDI clock (both sending and
> receiving) is fine in the JamMan, and it plays well with most other MIDI
> stuff, even EDPs and 'peaters MY issue has been, and continues to be,
>the
> latency in tapping in and out of loops (it is slight, but my stuff is
highly
> rhythmic, and those miliseconds add up....to frustrations).
I honestly can't completely agree with you here, max. Yes there is
latency introduced when using midi to control timing critical events.
However, even if your pedal has a 5ms latency and the Jamman also has a 5ms
latency, that's only 10ms latency, and that is similar to the latency that
is needed for a switch closure!
The real issue in using midi with looping, is whether that latency is
_repeatable_. In other words if I can rely on the latency to always be
20ms
from the moment that I press a button, I never have a problem. Say I press
the button on beat1 to start looping. The loop will start recording 20ms
late. Then if I press the button to end recording on beat1, the loop will
stop recording 20ms late too. My loop ends up perfectly in rhythm!
There
is a limit to acceptable latency, because it will tend to clip the attack
from any note I might play on beat1 - truthfully, I usually end a loop with
the same sound as I start with, so for me this isn't an issue.
On the other hand, if I can't rely on the latency and it is specified at
20ms +/- 15ms, then we have a problem! If its 5ms on the loop start, and
35
on the loop end, then we have a loop that is 30ms too long - BAD news. I
admit _some_ midi devices can certainly have this problem, but in my
experience I could only imagine this happening in a very poorly designed
device or one that is compromised by a cost cutting design (usually at the
software level).
It is my understanding that a well trained human ear can hear differences
in
timing as little as 10ms. Therefore in my book, if the latency is
repeatable to within +/- 5ms we're fine for a looper. This is not at all
an
unreasonable goal to expect of a midi chain.
So, not being a jamman owner or user, I have to ask you Max: How have you
compared midi control to foot-switch control? If you have seriously
A/B'ed
the two techniques and noticed concrete examples of midi control having
rhythmic problems - I yield to your opinion 100%. It certainly is possible
for the jamman to have problems with midi timing control. I'm not trying
to
be a midi evangelist, I would just hope that you give it a chance with a
quality midi controller. I will offer to let you try out my behringer midi
footcontroller next time we have a chance to meet up. Let us all know how
you go...
Jon
ps. I have seriously A/B'ed midi control to foot-switch control on the
repeater and echoplex and midi control has fared quite well. I consider my
ear to be a well trained ear in the rhythmic sense and I cannot honestly
detect a difference in timing between the two methods.