Monotremata wrote:Low3001 wrote:I have a similiar problem with my MPC One. I have connected four external hardware synths via Midi (and a masterkeyboard via USB). The synths are connected to an analog mixer.
When I record the external synths audio into the MPC via subgroup on the analog mixer (I don't use an audio interface), there is a very little latency, compared to the midi tracks of the sounds. Not much but it is there. I have to trim the audio a little bit at start.
Any ideas what could be the cause?
That's just the way it is. Everything is going to be latent when recording digitally, there is always processing time to factor in, along with a lot of other things going on. You're sending a MIDI note to a hardware device, that hardware device needs to receive the note and then process it and play it, which then needs to make its way down the audio cable and reach the interface/recorder. Not to mention MIDI is a serial communication protocol, one message at a time down the pipe, regardless of how many channels/synths/etc you're sending too. It's in milliseconds, but the more MIDI gear you have, the longer the processing time takes. You folks that weren't alive or old enough to be using this stuff in the late 80s/early 90s missed out on THRU chains that made things really slow if you had more than about 3 synths hooked up.
The MPC doesn't give us any facility for changing the buffers or delay compensation (if it even has it) or anything to do with the recording aspect of it, so it is what it is. When Im finished writing a track on the MPC with 16+ channels of samples, and 3 or 4 MIDI synths playing along, I've always got to shift everything once I multitrack it in Cubase to line up with the grid. Even a Mac with a rock solid RME setup is going to have latency and be a little off once you zoom in and look at the transients..
There are things that can be done to reduce latency when tracking keyboards that are connected to an MPC via midi. I’ve never noticed latency issues in my modern setup (such issues were extremely common 20 years ago).
Some things you can do to reduce latency:
- Ensure that all midi devices are connected to a midi interface as a “star” network. This means that every midi keyboard’s inputs and outputs are directly connected to the MPC or to a midi interface like the MioXL with the mio-XL connected to the MPC via USB.
- NEVER daisy chain the “midi in” inputs on your keyboards from the output or throughout of another. In a daisy chained setup the last keyboard in the chain will have the most latency and all keyboards will have different latency. Daisy chaining is still fairly common today, unfortunately.
- Use similar length cables, but they don’t have to be the same length. An extra 10 feet of cable will have such a small effect on latency — tilting your head off axis from the ideal listening position will introduce about 8x greater latency than an extra 10 feet of cable. Numbers are approximated and latency here is in nanoseconds based on theoretical max speed of electricity over a wire.
- Consider tracking instruments without software effects on the program/channel. Consider using physical effects units such as pedals if you wish to track with effects. This will reduce load on the system.
- Consider using the MPC in controller mode (since class compliant mode is **** awful) if you have a mixer interface as this will give you direct monitoring.
For example I use the MPC Live gen1 with an SSL Big Six. I use the MPC in controller mode until I’m ready to export stems and load them up in Logic or protools for finishing touches. All of my keyboards are direct monitored from my ssl board so I don’t even have to deal with monitoring latency.
