Delays in Digitakt devs and other feedback

I’m of two minds on this topic. I owned a digitakt twice and sold it twice because the random crashes were unacceptable to me (even when used alone). I don’t think the development of the digitone is related to the delays in the software, but rather that they are having a hard time ironing out all the bugs without creating new ones. @LyingDalai i don’t think the number of updates is relevant if the product still doesn’t work at a base level. The thing that is really hurting me right now is the Overbridge delays as it would really streamline my workflow. I think there was a missed opportunity by Elektron to showcase what is coming in the new overbridge to get people pumped for it to distract from the fact they’ve been waiting a long time for it. In the case of Digitakt owners, 9 months. 9 months with promised features that have been unavailable. I’m rocking an a4 and the direct outs aren’t working out for me so Overbridge is the only other solution for me.

The other side of my brain says that I was a Virus TI 1 owner and it had bugs that would cause it to output a high frequency full volume noise when it crashed and it took 9 months to fix. Even now I think the TI software is 2 years old and still in “beta”. There is a reason all the virus’ are collecting dust in the stores here.

Regarding MIDI clock quality, I used to believe that DAWs were bad at generating a stable MIDI clock signal (because everyone said so) until I built a MidiGAL and used its MidiClk firmware to do some testing back in 2016.

As it turned out, with Ableton Live running on OS X using a cheap ESI MIDIMATE II “cable style” USB-to-DIN MIDI interface, I was able to generate a clock signal with more than 3 times less jitter than the clock signal from an Elektron RYTM or Analog Four.

As an aside, it should be noted that MIDI clock jitter is not very relevant for keeping most modern hardware boxes in sync. The reason for this is that pretty much all non-trivial hardware as well as all DAWs don’t use the MIDI Clock Messages directly to advance their internal sequencer, but instead average the timing of the incoming clock messages to derive a BPM value which they then use to set or update their internal clock, which is what drives their sequencer.

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@t Exactly.

Just quick- You were using this as an example that it can be done with a cheap random cable right? Not that you found this one runs the best?
Anyways, ok, if your experiance with using a computer DAW to sync with hardware has been positive, then that is great, but that doesn’t negate my bad experiences with it. I have tried multiple times over the years… But, I will be honest, that after years of failure, I just don’t spend the time trying to to troubleshoot. I try it once and fuck it. If the clock is all over the place (last time I tried to sync the DT with Live, the clock lagged back and forth sooo bad) I move on to find a way to make music. I don’t want to build a MidiGal and do testing. I just find ways around obstacles, so that I can get things done.

Also missed opportunity…Analog Keys MKII

Did you try a few different interfaces?

Some actually don’t work well for this purpose.

My Saffire 40’s midi out clock was all over the place whenever note out information was being sent. As in actually making other devices stutter.

In the end, I was told it’s unfixable on this interface (!) and I consequently swapped one of my Saffire 40’s for a Scarlett 18i20 2nd gen.

Of course, I had loads of midi interfaces at this point that I could have used. But I thought I trusted the audio interface’s MIDI port best for sync/clock purposes and kept choosing it for this every time. Big mistake!

Live and learn eh.

My main point would be- That if there is a whole thread with people upset about bugs, just wait till OB is released. Unless they do it perfectly, there are so many possibilities for problems interfacing software with hardware.

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I have a DT with usb midi and a Focusrite 2i2 (new one)…that’s the last set-up I tried to sync. I have since bought a iConnectivity 1 midi interface for my OT and it works great for triggering virtual instruments in live. And like I said before, I realized that I don’t need to sync midi clock with Ableton. I am just using my laptop now as a instrument host. I have a couple tracks of Uhe Repro’s, a couple Reaktor tracks, and a couple Ableton Simpler tracks, all being triggered by the OT sequencer, without any noticeable delay. Once I need to record into Live, I just quickly fix the warp markers or whatever after the recording is done.

This was just something I had laying around. Please note that there are a lot of shitty no-brand “cable style” USB-to-DIN MIDI cables out there. The ESI MIDIMATE II is inexpensive, but good.

I symphatize. Resolving computer issues is no fun if you just want stuff to work. If you do want specific help, don’t hesitate to ask.

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Thanx man. Very kind of you. Wish I would’ve known of that interface before i dropped 40 bucks on the one I have now. Might have to try and get it and return the one I have to GC.

Good stuff, all about finding a way that works for you with what you’ve got!

Nice choice with Repro btw! I think it’s superb.

John

Yeah, blows away most hardware I’ve used.

Please note that this was on a Mac, things might be very different on Windows.

True. I’ll keep that in mind.

On nice thing about the Mac is that it has os-level support for keeping MIDI messages in time with the audio ouput. On Windows this is traditionally more the job of the application and the hardware drivers supplied by the interface vendor.

Yeah, Mac’s are great computers. No doubt. But, at the moment I have a Windows machine.

Oh, this was in no way a value judgement. Just makes that the same interface might give totally different results for you.

Totally. I hear you. I’ve had Mac’s before. No worries. I was jsut thinking how cool it would be if the DT had a way to export stems somehow.

Couldn’t agree more. I sold my DT and got a used OT MKI and couldn’t be happier. Same price but a lot more features. The scenes, crossfader, and parts add so much. I was scared that the OT would be hard to learn but it turns out it was a piece of cake, though I concede I haven’t learned the looper or live sampling yet - just doing sequences with samples from a soundpack I bought from the Elektron site (which is a great learning tool btw since it includes pre-made patterns and parts already) and a few samples I recorded in with my synth. Oh and none of the MIDI freezes that I got wit the DT.

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Sort of grateful for this missed opportunity though…I have and LOVE the AKeys and would be so severely tempted by a shiny new version. Ensuing financial crisis averted! :sunglasses:Preformatted text

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