Expert Sleepers - Silent Way controlling OT

loopyogden · 2013-11-13T17:23:35.000Z

Anyone have any experience with using the ES 3 and ES 5 to control your OT? I am looking to integrate my DAW with my modular synth and OT. I have the ES 3 and ES 5 module already.

My question is can I just send midi clock from the ES 5 to keep everything in sync? Does anyone use this solution for syncing up with their DAW?

Thanks!

fewture · 2013-11-13T19:55:22.000Z

Yes.

I am using the ES3 to send midi clock to my OT.

Works like a charm. I have also set a delay of about 148 samples on the the ES3 track in ableton because for me that’s how much delay there was. I’m sure yours will be different and you will need to work out the right time for yours. There will always be delay of some kind, especially as all midi machines have a start up lag time.

I couldn’t get ES5 to work with midi clock but I’ve generally had troubles with ES5 in general. I don’t think it plays nicely with my audio interface.

I was previously using inner clock sync gen pro but I have a modular now and es3 is perfect.

noha · 2013-11-13T20:58:31.000Z

I too use an ES-3 to clock my midi devices. However, I haven’t calculated the latency yet.

fewture, what technique did you use to determine this latency? I’d love to do those calculations and tighten up my midi timing. Care to share?

loopyogden · 2013-11-13T21:15:02.000Z

@fewture and noha
Would either of you go into detail on how you got midi clock from the es3? Did I waste my money on the ES5? If you could share a Ableton file with the set up that would be awesome!

@fewture and noha
One more question…Do either of you have issues with calibrating the ES3 with your modular synth? I have a Make Noise DPO and I cannot for the life of me get it to calibrate…any good info on this is also much appreciated!

loopyogden · 2013-11-13T21:17:18.000Z

I also would like to see how you calculated that for the latency.

noha · 2013-11-13T23:15:06.000Z

@loopyogden no, you did not waste your money. i use an ES5 (actually an ES8GT expander coming off one of the ports of my ES5) to send the midi clock. You would use the ES4 controller plugin and a 1/8" to MIDI cable plugged into one of the ES5/ES8 ports. All you have to do is dial in the right port and enable midi clock on the plugin.

As for calibration, it can sometimes take a few tries. Definitely pick a simple waveform (turn down all of the FM busses on the DPO) and play with different settings of the tuning knob. I generally get the best results when it’s directly in the middle, but sometimes you have to tweak it a bit. Don’t be afraid to try multiple calibrations until you get the best one!

Cocker · 2013-11-13T23:30:16.000Z

Isn’t there a video of Os from Expert Sleepers showing that you can get Jitter / Latency free Midi clock from his modules ? I’m sure I’ve seen that. Using a custom built mini jack to midi converter ? I’ll see if I can find it. Think it was on his vimeo channel

Cocker · 2013-11-14T00:06:24.000Z

""fewture"":

Yes.

I am using the ES3 to send midi clock to my OT.

Works like a charm. I have also set a delay of about 148 samples on the the ES3 track in ableton because for me that’s how much delay there was. I’m sure yours will be different and you will need to work out the right time for yours. There will always be delay of some kind, especially as all midi machines have a start up lag time.

I couldn’t get ES5 to work with midi clock but I’ve generally had troubles with ES5 in general. I don’t think it plays nicely with my audio interface.

I was previously using inner clock sync gen pro but I have a modular now and es3 is perfect.

I’m thinking of either an ES3 or an Innerclock Sync gen. How did you find the sync gen ? Seems like a lot of money to spend. The advantage of the ES3 being able to control my modular as well as provide clock seems to be swinging me in it’s favour.

Here’s that vid I was on about

https://vimeo.com/26444600

noha · 2013-11-14T00:10:38.000Z

it’s jitter free, but not latency free. latency is often device specific, and will be a fixed value which is basically how long the device takes to respond to a clock plus how long the message takes to get to the device. audio-generated midi is free from common problems such as jitter but not the more elemental nature of signal transmission time.

Cocker · 2013-11-14T00:21:25.000Z

""noha"":

it’s jitter free, but not latency free. latency is often device specific, and will be a fixed value which is basically how long the device takes to respond to a clock plus how long the message takes to get to the device. audio-generated midi is free from common problems such as jitter but not the more elemental nature of signal transmission time.

Cheers for that. So each machine still has it’s own internal clock that needs to be compensated for? Still the clock has to be better than what I’m dealing with from Ableton and Cubase at the moment. Dreadful to say the least

loopyogden · 2013-11-14T13:47:55.000Z

""Cocker"":

Isn’t there a video of Os from Expert Sleepers showing that you can get Jitter / Latency free Midi clock from his modules ? I’m sure I’ve seen that. Using a custom built mini jack to midi converter ? I’ll see if I can find it. Think it was on his vimeo channel

I have watched all of the videos on the ES site, youtube, and vimeo. My set up is slightly different as far as the audio interface…The vids make it look easy! I am sure I will get it all worked out.

I have to make a mini jack to midi cable because I could not find any where to buy one online. The parts should be here Friday and my studio should be finished by the end of the weekend. Once I get everything set up I will report back with how well the OT is working with the ES3 and ES5!

Cocker · 2013-11-14T16:37:09.000Z

""loopyogden"":

I have to make a mini jack to midi cable because I could not find any where to buy one online. The parts should be here Friday and my studio should be finished by the end of the weekend. Once I get everything set up I will report back with how well the OT is working with the ES3 and ES5!

They sell those on the Expert Sleepers site in the Hardware section. I bought one of the mini jack to din converters last year. Good quality. Works well

loopyogden · 2013-11-14T16:50:25.000Z

""loopyogden"":

[quote=“Cocker”]Isn’t there a video of Os from Expert Sleepers showing that you can get Jitter / Latency free Midi clock from his modules ? I’m sure I’ve seen that. Using a custom built mini jack to midi converter ? I’ll see if I can find it. Think it was on his vimeo channel

I have watched all of the videos on the ES site, youtube, and vimeo. My set up is slightly different as far as the audio interface…The vids make it look easy! I am sure I will get it all worked out.

I have to make a mini jack to midi cable because I could not find any where to buy one online. The parts should be here Friday and my studio should be finished by the end of the weekend. Once I get everything set up I will report back with how well the OT is working with the ES3 and ES5![/quote]
I looked all over for them and everyone is out of them. Can’t wait for the restock…so I decided to try and make one myself.