Digitakt receiving inconsistent MIDI Clock from DAW

Hello,

I just tried to integrate the digitakt into my DAW setup and a strange thing happens when I try to sync the DT to ableton via MIDI. When I push play in Ableton the DT receives the midi clock but is not able to hold it. It’s always changing within a range of 0.5 - 1 bpm. When my track is 88 bpm for example DT shows me 88.1, 88.4, 88.0 and so on…
I tried it with both my FireFace 800 MIDI Out and my midisport 2x2 from m-audio - same result.
Any ideas? What am I doing wrong here?

Cheers

I and others have experienced the same. Only had them synced once, more as a test but had the varying BPM.

This is normal, especially with jittery clock sources - nothing wrong with DT

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Ok so there is no way to stabilizate this without using aditional hardware?

I’ve no idea, computers are a buzz kill … and a tiny ‘display’ variation like that would not bother me in the slightest - if you hear an issue with it then investigate all the esoteric options to get even more stable clock from a computer - but that level of variation seems slight and not much worse than the level you may get between two Elektrons - there are lots of threads on the fancy tech to improve on that if it’s an issue still

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I experience the same jittering on all machines i sync to Ableton (DT, BSP…).
but when i record the output of the DT i can see that the timing is tight and consistent, so i don’t worry about it!

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tl;dr: That jitter is normal, and just looks bad. You shouldn’t hear anything but tight.

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Ok I will make a test on that later. Thanks for the replies!

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That’s normal. If you want to ruin your brain and get discouraged from doing anything with a computer and hardware, read up a bit on jitter. It sucks.

I get this same behavior clocking my OT MKII from my Rytm. It’s never a full BPM though; always plus or minus .4 or so. I have no idea if this is normal but it’s annoying as hell.

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I first thought this was related to the midi problems the DT had… I still recognize some problems. Selecting the MIDI channel for example. I have to press FUNC + Encoder several times before the cross goes away and I can select the channel… But this BPM jitter seems to be quite common and “normal”.

The func+encoder problem has nothing to do with midi. It’s over sensitive encoders and a known problem. The encoders register even the slightest movement and if the encoder gets turned even minutely the down press will not work.

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Ah ok. Good to know

I know this is somewhat expensive but it solved all my clock woes to the point I don’t even think about it anymore.
It’s a worthwhile investment if you use multiple pieces of gear.

https://www.e-rm.de/multiclock/

Another fun trick is using Ableton Link on an iOS device running a metronome app synced to Live via link. You can use the metronome audio output for the Multiclock sync input.

They also have a plugin you can plop on a track in Live and use an audio output to sync the ERM Multiclock with Live.
Very solid clock and I’ve never had any issues syncing any piece of gear with it so far.

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This might be a cheaper alternativet, depending on peoples needs

http://www.expert-sleepers.co.uk/usamo.html

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Nice! I didn’t know about that one. The multiclock works great for my needs but if you simply want a better MIDI sync with your DAW this seems like a great option.

I was wondering, is there any advantage in syncing DT to Ableton, not Ableton to DT, or is it only a question of workflow?

Haven’t tried this myself, but I did a bunch of research on this when i got my DT. And apparently Ableton really doesn’t play well if it’s the slave. Basically the message i got from my research was, ALWAYS have Ableton as the master.

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Yeah, apparently it’s great. Would love to have a multiclock myself, but it’s just so much money just for midisync. If I start playing more live gigs, or got myself some more of them casheroonies, I might change my mind :slight_smile:

Wait for overbridge for DT @ beginning of 2018. The overbridge sync works great IMHO, only issue with it is that it adds substantial overall latency to your session but Elektron promised to improve things so…