midi sync to pro tools not perfect

but when i record the mpc's click into tools it isn't lined up perfectly with the grid. its only a little bit out (about a quarter to half a frame) but its still not good enough. ive tred both the mpc and pro tools as master with similar results. some times the click is consistently late, sometimes its a bit early and sometimes the click isn't consistent at all, one beat might be a bit early and the next a bit late. ive even tried loading a track of smpte time code on to the mpc and had tools chase it which still isnt perfect. is this the "mpc groove" people talk about or am i missing something? i am new to the world of mpc's but have been working with pro tools professionally for years and would really like to incorporate the mpc into my work but with these results it just isnt possible.

So my question is, has anyone recorded the mpc click into pro tools or any other daw and had it land in EXACTLY the right spot? man, i hope so. i might have to get the akai pad controller otherwise...

Thanks but its not a latency issue, im using pthd 7 a 192 i/o, an emagic unitor and a sync i/o.

tomazzzi wrote:

Thanks but its not a latency issue, im using pthd 7 a 192 i/o, an emagic unitor and a sync i/o.

No matter what you use it can be a latency issue if not properly configured.

I v no pb at all with Logic Studio & Ableton Live the sync is perfect.

Motu 828mk2, Presonus Firestation, Edirol UM3EX

Buffer 128

tomazzzi wrote:There s always a little latency, i don t know any card with 0 latency.

You can compensate it by using audio delay on your audio tracks or vti tracks then everything will be in perfect sync.

Then, when the recording is done, you only have to remove the delay on the tracks & move the audio of your recorded tracks to make it fit perfectly to the grid.

Hope this helps

tomazzzi wrote:There s always a little latency, i don t know any card with 0 latency.

You can compensate it by using audio delay on your audio tracks or vti tracks then everything will be in perfect sync.

Then, when the recording is done, you only have to remove the delay on the tracks & move the audio of your recorded tracks to make it fit perfectly to the grid.

Hope this helps

That-1-DJ wrote:I used to have a similar problem, Then I realized that having BUS/AUX tracks only make the routing chain longer therefore creating more latency. When I removed the BUS/AUX tracks I noticed a HUGE difference, I always insert 2 empty measures into the MPC. eg. grab a seq. that contains all of the voices/tracks that I want to use for the song, Bring up that seq. in song mode and start by solo'ing the first track, Go back to the main page and goto an empty seq. set it up for 2 bars, and make sure that the tempo is the same as your song will be. In SONG MODE insert the empty seq. 1st and then your main seq. 2nd. and record them into Pro Tools, If you have a song that consist of the basic 4 measures you will be recording at least 6 measures in Pro Tools (((2 measures = Empty seq.) + (4 measures = actual song seq.) = (6 measures TOTAL))) once you have all of your tracks entered int Pro Tools, Highlight all tracks and cut and delete the first 2 measures, Bring the song to the starting point and set your loop and you should have a perfect loop. and from there CREATE YOUR SONG!
After you create your song you can add BUS/AUX tracks if you wish, for your MIXDOWN.

I know it might sound confusing, but it is really simple works like a charm for me.

at the beginning the sync is off just by a hair, That is why I put 2 empty measures to allow it time to sync up PERFECTLY!

Hope this helps!