AH mkII LFO sync start

Elektron Gear Analog Heat
#1

Hi!

I’ve been experimenting with syncing up the Analog Heat mkII’s LFO to an external MIDI clock with poor results.

External MIDI clock sources tested:

  • DAW via Overbridge 2.0
  • DAW via DIN
  • External sequencer via MIDI

The AH recognises the external clock and syncs to its tempo (with LFO Speed = 16 or 32) in all three scenarios. However, the LFO won’t start in time with the ‘Start’ message from DAW or external sequencer.

In other words, the AH’s LFO will modulate at the same tempo as the external MIDI clock but will not run in sync (following the beat) with everything else. Is anyone else experiencing this or am I missing something?

A bit more info:

My test preset is a square wave LFO shape with the Cutoff Frequency as a destination.

I’ve tried:

  • The different LFO modes
  • The LFO Start Phase knob (useless without using a trigger if I understand correctly)

I’ve looked through the forum and the topic that relates the most to my issue is the following: Analog Heat LFO sync/retrig to MIDI

Nevertheless, I don’t want to use trigs or extra MIDI messages. I’d like to be able to use the LFO like any other piece of modern music-making equipment…

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks :slight_smile: !

4 Likes
#2

Welcome.

No help possible I’m afraid, ask Elektron
feature-request@elektron.se

I sold my AH to fund a Digitone. I hope they’ll update this very frustrating limitation, otherwise I’m not sure to buy it again. It is possible to trigger properly the lfo with Exp/Cv in, that’s all.

#3

Thanks for the reply! Will get in touch with Elektron.

#4

I sent a request.

#5

Whilst waiting for an update, I’ve ended up experimenting with sending a synced gate signal to CV IN A (Destination: Trig Level) but still can’t get a consistent result. Any tips? Thanks!

#6

Isnt there an LFO reset, start or phase destination?

#7

Thanks for the reply.

There is an ‘LFO Start’ destination but, forgive me if I’m wrong, that affects the phase of the LFO when triggered.

The ‘LFO reset’ is the glaring omission I was hinting at in my OP. I don’t want the envelope’s trigger to be the cost of getting the LFO to trigger on the beat.

  1. MIDI: Why not make the AH’s LFO reset to the MIDI Start message that comes with most MIDI clocks?
  2. CV: Less desirable for me but nonetheless. Why not include a ‘LFO reset’ destination to the modulation destinations.
2 Likes
#8

You’re right. I couldn t make it work either. And I completely agree with your suggestions.

1 Like
#9

It works. Set Control in to Footswitch > Env Trig.

2 Likes
#10

No ‘Env Trig’ destination available unfortunately. At least on the AH mkII.

I’ve managed to make ‘Trig Level’ destination work by setting the modulation value to ‘-127’.
For anyone who wants to do this, set the ‘Trig Level’ on the Envelope’s page to 127 so it doesn’t react to sound from the L/R inputs except when the CV/Gate signal (source: Control In) lowers the ‘Trig Level’ threshold. Hopefully that makes sense!

This is still a compromise because the envelope will always be triggered with the LFO.

#11

It exist, works better than any other setting.
It’s in CONTROL IN settings, set to Footswitch.

“Hybrid synth“ using AH and Keystep

#12

Thanks! Found it under ‘Footswitch’.

2 Likes
#13

Nice! Got that working with a trigger from my MD.

#14

And footswitch too, after I understood I had to reverse polarity for the MD trig signal…

#15

IIRC I could trigger that Env Trig with OT, a square wav, but it wasn’t as accurate as with cv.

1 Like
#16

MD has a machine specially for the purpose. Just had to set the AH to reverse polarity on it.

#17

Only the square wave?
Also, i don’t understand, what do you send from OT?

#18

Hi all.

Found something that can help you out:

#19

Sorry for the bump.

Is this actually real? The LFO start won’t sync to the beginning of the cycle? Did anyone get any resolution on this? Trying over midi sync.

Thanks :slight_smile:

1 Like
#20

Having the same issue. Tried using the Analog Heat for tremolo/gating effects on an entire mix. Sounds great, but getting the LFO to sync is basically down to luck. It syncs to external BPM alright (coming from Digitakt), but the LFO is free-running no matter what settings I choose. So sometimes it aligns with the beat, other times it’s slightly offset making it unusable.

Weird thing is, changing LFO START seems to be doing absolutely nothing, but maybe I’m misunderstanding what that setting is supposed to do.