SMPTE sync dropping first beat

I am syncing my MPC2000XL with Cubase SX3 and a Fireface 800 card (SMPTE). I have tried syncing with MTC and midi but had major problems and things would get out of sync in a hurry.

Since I have the SMPTE expander on my MPC, I am now syncing with SMPTE with the Cubase SMPTE generator as an insert on a mono audio track. Everything is cool, however, when starting the track, it will not play the first beat of the bar (usually my kick drum). When the bars loop around the first beat is there but when I start the track from the beginning it is gone.

This isn't a major deal and can be fixed when I track the audio from my MPC to Cubase but it throws off my rhythm when I'm working on my track.

I have tried with preroll off and on in Cubase, but don't know where else to look. There is nothing else in the sync settings to change because I am not using midi. I am using a frame rate of 30.

Any ideas?

I have tried striping the SMPTE from the SMPTE generator plugin to it's own audio track and had the same response.

Put an extra blank bar at the start of your sequence to give it time to catch up after pressing start.
This is standard practice, nothing wrong with your set up.

Thanks! I put a 2 bar blank loop in front and then made a Song with the blank sequence playing once then converted to a new Sequence.