Impossible to use A4 MK2 with Analog Heat in Ableton

[grit909]

…without Overbridge!?

Ok, so after 6 months of my brand new A4 Mk2 sitting in the box waiting for the long awaited and announced Overbridge to be released I decided to hook it up via analog outputs and try to make the best out of the situation by starting use it.

Everything works fine, I get the normal latency using A4 that I solve by using Ableton’s Track Delay option to align clock and have everything play nicely in sync.

Problems arise when I insert Analog Heat trough Overbridge into my project that introduces big latency making it impossible to sync up my A4 to Ableton’s clock. No matter how much track delay I dial in, the sound of A4 is always late and cannot be synced properly to the rest of the tracks inside Ableton.

Anynone has an idea what to try, because at this time I hit the wall?

[Sharris]

Try searching threads in this forum (there’s a search engine), there are at least 1 or 2 threads about this with people sharing advice, tips, tricks, ect.

[Sharris]

Here are a few:

Ableton & Analog Heat – glitches

Hey, if i use Analog Heat in Ableton on the Master Channel (via overbridge) it sound perfect during the normal playback... but if i render the project i get a lot of glitches. if anyone has a solution... that would be very cool Thanks... Samplesize Buffer 256 kb OSX 11.1.6 Ableton 9.7.1 Analog Heat 1.02 Overbridge 1.15

Thavius Beck shows Overbridge & Analog Heat in a new tutorial video series

[image] Overwhelmed by Overbridge? Take a look at the walkthrough featuring Thavius Beck. Watch him use the Analog Heat and Overbridge to make things sound a little bit more gnarly! Thavius is an electronic musician, producer and technology enthusiast based in Brooklyn, New York. He has made a dozen albums since the turn of the century, and has collaborated with a slew of other artists (including Nine Inch Nails, Saul Williams and Nas). Overbridge is an award-winning software suite offering …

[grit909]

Thanks for the help, but non of those 2 thread is about using Heat with Overbridge and External Synthesizer like A4 Mk2 in my case, trough the analog outputs.

Since Elektron put me in this conundrum by not delivering Overbrridge as promised, I have no options to use both Heat and my A4 mk2. Not gonna mention I can’t get back to my older projects from A4 mk1, becuase I sold it to fund mk2. A proper disaster…

Any other solutions?

[AlmaxMere]

While I love the AH OB interface, I feel like it’s still easy enough to get the desired results from the hardware alone. So, do you NEED to use OB?

Although going directly through the hardware into the DAW will end up with no way to change the AH params later, I feel like A4 into AH into Live is a reasonable short term solution.

Unless you’re using AH as your sound card. Then I am not sure.

One thing that helped me with AK via OB messing up my latency, was to turn the OB plug-in off and then on again after loading it up.

[grit909]

Well, I use Analog Heat to process different things in my projects, not strictly A4. So it’s impossible now to, let’s say, process my drum group and have A4 playing nicely in sync on different channel.

[AlmaxMere]

Gotcha… Well, if I can think of anything else, I will surely let you know.

Edit: How are you syncing the A4 with Ableton?

[Sharris]

Yeah, I apologize, I guess I mis-understood. I guess I still misunderstand.

I thought you were using AH as a soundcard with OB & just running the A4 thru AH into Ableton.

Are you saying you want to run A4 thru a separate soundcard/audio interface into Ableton & use Analog Heat with OB with Ableton?

The threads I put up were to help with OB latency inside Ableton. It’s a start. Like you said the latency is so bad once you get Analog Heat & OB in the mix… unless I’m misunderstanding that as well…

Good luck!

Edit - Holy shit, our initials spell gas! That’s awesome! (on forum page, lookin at the thread title, under users)

[AlmaxMere]

More GAS is the last thing I need!

[Sharris]

Fine!
I changed it to sas

Edit…nevermind, it didn’t work…still gas…it doesn’t want to let us go!

[grit909]

Edit: How are you syncing the A4 with Ableton?

Tried both trough USB and MIDI - same result. Also tried using audio channel to stream A4 and also MIDI channel with External Instrument - same result.

As soon as I insert Analog HEAT into my project, the latency becomes so bad it’s impossible to fix it.

At this point I cant use A4 mk2 in my setup in any way! No Overbridge and using analog outs is a NO-GO because of the latency introduced by HEAT. What should I do with this unusable piece of kit now?

Looking for advice!

[AdamJay]

What should I do with this unusable piece of kit now?

Unfortunately, it appears you will have to wait for the Overbridge update, as you’ve exhausted all possible workarounds, aside from using a dedicated, low latency audio interface (Clarett, UAD, etc) and using audio jacks only without Overbridge. But you probably aren’t willing to buy more equipment, and that is understandable.

Until that update comes, it is like you said:

it’s impossible to fix it.

[grit909]

Hey Adam, thanks for the help.
Thing is, I own Clarett soundcard and still it’s impossible to dial in proper delay/latency with Heat on.

Surely there has to be a way to treat me right as a customer from Elektron side and for them to offer some kind of solution because this is then nothing more than a scam and customers should be protected and dealt with in proper manner.

This thing cannot be integrated with their own software and instrument, let alone with the whole DAW.

[AdamJay]

Have you tried using heat without OB on?

A4 into Heat, into Clarett. Analog jacks only. No OB. Should be able to get around 6ms latency this way.

Or are you wanting to use Heat on something other than the A4?

[Prinzabu]

This is something that so many people miss (me to at first) Overbridge in sync mode is not possible to do. You need to plug in via analog cables, and if you’re using overbridge you NEED to turn sync OFF in settings in order to have latency issues fixed. By doing this it works just fine, and you can draw automation, do library things, and edit your kit as you see fit. Just don’t sync tempo via overbridge and you’ll be fine.

EDIT: It’s possible of course but the latency renders it near useless

[grit909]

Or are you wanting to use Heat on something other than the A4?

Yes of course! I already have existing projects with HEAT on different channels. I didn’t bought it to process only A4.

You need to plug in via analog cables, and if you’re using overbridge you NEED to turn sync OFF in settings in order to have latency issues fixed.

Wait, sync OFF for Analog HEAT?

[AdamJay]

Yes of course! I already have existing projects with HEAT on different channels. I didn’t bought it to process only A4.

It may be best to render the audio on the chanels with Heat on in those projects so that you can move on and operate at your desired latencies.

[grit909]

Thanks for continues help, but that’s not an option because I’m using it mainly for Drum Busses or on Main Channel. And also by going that route I should have bought Analog Drive not HEAT.

I mean, this thing is turning into a nightmare. I would have been better off with any different combination of devices than a sole Elektron setup!

Instead of:
“Fully integrate with your DAW” on the back of the MK2 box, it should say: “It will not work with other Elektron products”

or

Instead “Overbridge Enabled” it should say “Will not work with Overbridge”

How bizarre is this?

[Prinzabu]

Yes sync off, you don’t need the tempo anyways for the Analog Heat. Off topic: USB MIDI is till shit, the only midi that works reliably is regular midi! :))))

[grit909]

Wait a minute, where is the sync option for Analog Heat in Overbridge vst???

Or you mean this, the SYNC settings on the HEAT itself, which are off for every option.