What type of sync do you use 4 Pro Tools? MIDI, MTC, SMPTE?

I'm just trying to get input from others on what they think is the best way or rather what is the tightest sync when using Pro Tools 8 as the master and the MPC4000 as the slave when tracking?

I've tried MIDI and I got SMPTE to work yesterday. I've heard that SMPTE is the absolute when it comes to locking.

What do y'all think? Just trying to get sum different opinions....

MTC will always come out on top as being the best & most reliable means of syncing.

I've tried midi clock and it doesn't lock as well as mtc. Clock worked best when it's being sent to my older drum machine or rack efx devices.

I can never remember,, I always have to switch things around depending on what I'm using when, cause I have 11 midi devices on a MOTU and some are inline

For instance, the RS7000 won't pass one thru... mtc or midi clock, don't remember which, pain in the butt, since it's in line with a 909, and 4K

When I'm using the 4K , and when I can, I always use MTC cause you can pull up the sync toolbar and toggle mtc on and off

handy

My choice is smpte by far! record the smpte tone on a track in protools and send it back to the 4000, when you make tempo changes in protools the 4000 follows it tight as long as you have a few bars of lead in. You can jump to the middle of your song in protools, and the mpc will jump to the right spot if the mpc is in song mode.

A friend of mine swears by SMPTE. He always told me that SMPTE's syncing was always on point.

Side Note: I've been to Bassline (RIP) a couple of times and on one of those occasions Young Guru was tracking out a track for me and even though he could have clearly used MIDI from any one of the many studio pieces to trigger my MPC2000 (my weapon of choice at the time) he chose to use SMPTE. Which actually considering the setup time took him alot more time and effort. When MIDI would have been done in way less time. Anyhow he used SMPTE which now that I think about it could have been his choice because he was from the old school of engineering which was when 2inch tape was the standard.

I used the SMPTE method and I got great results......

SMPTE TONE to PRO TOOLS then PRO TOOLS to MPC4000 was on point.....

For those that may not be in the know, MTC is nothing more than SMPTE being transmitted over MIDI.

Just thought I'd throw that out there. I had to go with smpte also whenever I had to sync my adat mdm with my daw back in the day.

But unless otherwise, either method of using smpte will bring some very pleasing results.

dabmeister wrote:For those that may not be in the know, MTC is nothing more than SMPTE being transmitted over MIDI.

Now that I did not know. I thought that it might be somewhat related due to the words "tme code" but didn't want to ever look like an a$$ asking that question....lol

DJ A-Sharp wrote:

dabmeister wrote:For those that may not be in the know, MTC is nothing more than SMPTE being transmitted over MIDI.

Now that I did not know. I thought that it might be somewhat related due to the words "tme code" but didn't want to ever look like an a$$ asking that question....lol

It's all good g.

Just a heads up for all those who see this post. I used SMPTE to drop sum tracks last night to my Pro Tools LE setup (DIGI003 to be specific) and the bad boy locked up nicely.

Just my opinion here but the sync was definitely waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy tighter than using MIDI BEAT CLOCK but that is just my personal opinion. Just wanted to keep those who didn't know, in the loop

Peace Y'all

DJ A-Sharp wrote:Just a heads up for all those who see this post. I used SMPTE to drop sum tracks last night to my Pro Tools LE setup (DIGI003 to be specific) and the bad boy locked up nicely.

Just my opinion here but the sync was definitely waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy tighter than using MIDI BEAT CLOCK but that is just my personal opinion. Just wanted to keep those who didn't know, in the loop

Peace Y'all

Which means of connectivity did you use, if you don't mind me asking?

dabmeister wrote:

DJ A-Sharp wrote:Just a heads up for all those who see this post. I used SMPTE to drop sum tracks last night to my Pro Tools LE setup (DIGI003 to be specific) and the bad boy locked up nicely.

Just my opinion here but the sync was definitely waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy tighter than using MIDI BEAT CLOCK but that is just my personal opinion. Just wanted to keep those who didn't know, in the loop

Peace Y'all

Which means of connectivity did you use, if you don't mind me asking?

1. I ran a 1/4 inch cable "OUT' from SMPTE to an "input" (any of the eight line input) on the back of the DIGI003 Rack.

2. I armed the track and I armed the transport.

3. Went to my MPC sync screen and made sure the Mode Out was SMPTE at 30fps then went to song mode.

4. I pressed play to start Pro Tools recording and then while my track was in song mode I pressed "Play/Start" when ever I wanted to, and the SMPTE tone was generated onto the recording Pro Tools track. When the song got to the end and stopped on it's own, the SMPTE "output" stopped generating a tone.

5. I stopped Pro Tools and set the track that had the tone on it to an "output" which I ran back to the 4000's SMPTE IN via another 1/4 inch cable.

6. I set my sync mode "input" to SMPTE IN at 30fps and then went back to song mode on the MPC4000

7. In Pro Tools I then armed the tracks I wanted to use for audio recording and the transport and once again I pushed play on the transport. When Pro Tools sends that SMPTE tone to the 4000, it will start and the MPC's output will record into Pro Tools.

I know I wrote alot and it seems like alot but it really isn't. It's actually less steps than using MIDI cause nothing in Pro Tools' setting has to be checked and no tempo has to be established (although you should if someone else is mixing your material) in matching the song your recording, etc. The SMPTE tone tell the MPC4000 what to do. The only extra step you have to do is record a SMPTE Tone before you track the stuff out.

I thought about all the SYNCing stuff and figure that if the Motion Picture industry relies on SMPTE then it has to be worth it......

but just my opinion....

^^^ I'd have to say "whew" for you after posting that in detail like you did. That's cool!

Yeah, smpte is the real deal when it comes to locking anything together. It kept my adat in perfect sync with cubase and I used it on an occasion or two to sync from my old tascam 688.

Now I know how you feel...ain't no stopping you now.