Midi Sync S**t...

[ellaguru]

hi
for the first time since i own this machine i try to midi sync it with digital recorders Tascam dp 01 fx and Zoom mrs-4. I put the sp-404 to "auto" midi option. with the tascam it worked ok in "play" but it didn't worked in "rec". with the zoom the sp-404 started yet at the moment the recorded begun the countdown, without countdown it rested in silence and after some little times it started. so i changed the midi option into "tmp" but no signal was detected (i know the "tmp" option isn't do for that, but i've tied anyway ). the bizzare thing is that several times the sp-404 didn't started at all with the pattern i choose for, or sometimes it started late...

in case you have doubts about the 2 recorders, be quiet to know that i use them everytime, and without any problems, with the sp-303, the sp-505, the roland D2, the yamaha qy70 and the akai mpc1000...

any suggestion is well accepted (execpt: "stop with midi!it's enough!" )

[tape smoke]

i think your problem lies in the 404's inability to send midi.

i think you need a midi device ( sp ) that can send play stop rewind ect.

you might be able to cue up the shit with record then hit play and it will start up the 404, but i dont think it will help much for syncing. i think your best off banging it live. unless someone else jumps in here with some wisdom.

peace.

[ellaguru]

[quote="master Lo"]i think your problem lies in the 404's inability to send midi.

quote]

thanx for the answer.
sorry i forgot to say that the 2 recorders send midi signals by their own midi out. the sp-404, as for the sp-303, isn't capable to send midi signals, it can only receives midi signals.
anyway all the other machines i cited receive well all midi signals send by the recorders: start, stop, tempo and also the right pattern...

[cartesia]

can u try setting the 404 to IN instead of AUTO? maybe it's just getting a bit confused.

[ellaguru]

can u try setting the 404 to IN instead of AUTO? maybe it's just getting a bit confused.

in the sp-404 midi choises, as for the sp-303, you have "auto","tmp" or "off".
when i use midi with the sp-303 the "auto" option works well. all the other machines i use work well too via midi like that, they don't have an "auto" option but something similar. the strange thing with the sp-404 is that it don't consider the metronome countdown and when i put off this the 404 don't start in time with the recorders and often don't start with the pattern i choose to.
have you use the 404 in sync with other machines?
maybe now i have to try to work this thing with the sp-505 or the mpc1000; from youtube i saw elhau making works that with the yamaha qy70 wich i have, maybe i'll try also with this.

[ellaguru]

i've tried with the yamaha qy70 and it works.
no work/bad work with the 2 recorders, again...
anyone of you tried this thing with pc (ableton live, cubase etc)?
cheers

[Jim Y]

Just a thought that may or may not help
What kind of midi sync is the "bad" recorder sending on midi. If it's MTC, the 404 won't understand it. 404 only understands Midi Clock sync. With MTC and the 404 on auto, I would expect the 404 to get the start/stop commands from the recorder but run at it's own tempo. Some recorders do have the choice of MTC or Midi clock sync.

Jim

[ellaguru]

Just a thought that may or may not help
What kind of midi sync is the "bad" recorder sending on midi. If it's MTC, the 404 won't understand it. 404 only understands Midi Clock sync. With MTC and the 404 on auto, I would expect the 404 to get the start/stop commands from the recorder but run at it's own tempo. Some recorders do have the choice of MTC or Midi clock sync.

Jim

thanks for the aswer/question.
the tascam dp 01 fx effectively got also the mtc option but normally i use this recorder with the midi clock. the zoom mrs-4 got only the time clock option (maybe is the same as midi clock), and so the song pointer option and the start/stop/continue option are automatically linked to this time clock option.
it's a strange tihing this...
anyway have you tried midi with the sp-404?

[Jim Y]

Yes I have tried the 404 under midi clock - it works as expected I've used it driven from a computer sequencer and my old Alesis SR16 drum machine. I don't use it this way regularly though as I've come to use my 404 more as a sample player triggered by midi notes, not it's own patterns.

It is possible the problem is electrical - a less than perfect midi cable or an unfortunate combination of not quite enough current from the recorders midi output and not quite enough sensitivity at the 404 midi input.

If it isn't the cable, you could test the midi compatibility my using something with a midi "thru" output between the recorder and 404. The device in the middle will be re-generating the midi from it's own midi output. If timing is good this way, then the recorders midi out doesn't quite drive enough for the 404.

The only other thing I can think of right now - are the 404 patterns being clocked at the same tempo they were written for? Maybe some problem with the duration of the samples used doesn't like a different tempo?

Jim

[ellaguru]

It is possible the problem is electrical - a less than perfect midi cable or an unfortunate combination of not quite enough current from the recorders midi output and not quite enough sensitivity at the 404 midi input.

If it isn't the cable, you could test the midi compatibility my using something with a midi "thru" output between the recorder and 404. The device in the middle will be re-generating the midi from it's own midi output. If timing is good this way, then the recorders midi out doesn't quite drive enough for the 404.


Jim

the midi cable is not the problem 'cause i use always this cable with all the other machines...
as you suggest, maybe if i put , for example, my yamaha qy70 between the recorder and the sp-404 maybe this could work.