Octatrack becomes sluggish, goes out of sync over time

mikedean · 2015-01-10T05:43:53.000Z

Often when I’m using my Octatrack for extended periods of time, recording loops and sample playback will go out of sync. Sometimes even just monitoring incoming audio on a THRU machine is hugely delayed. Like 200-500ms. It’s a problem.

I think I’ve noticed a correlation with much use of the RATE parameter set to TSTR mode on several tracks. I can understand a lot of time stretching can be a load on the machine, but it surprises me how quickly it becomes an issue. It’s one of my favourite parameters, but it’s like I can’t use it at all. And once the machine is out of sync, it doesn’t seem to matter if I turn all time stretching off. It’s fucked.

This is a major problem for my performances. Trying to figure out a solution without turning off the machine and completely interrupting a performance.

Is this my machine, or have other people experienced this problem? Anyone have any hacks or solutions for this? Similar experiences? My machine’s OS is up to date. Dunno what else to do…

musicmagus · 2015-01-10T05:49:46.000Z

""mikedean"":

Often when I’m using my Octatrack for extended periods of time, recording loops and sample playback will go out of sync. Sometimes even just monitoring incoming audio on a THRU machine is hugely delayed. Like 200-500ms. It’s a problem.

I think I’ve noticed a correlation with much use of the RATE parameter set to TSTR mode on several tracks. I can understand a lot of time stretching can be a load on the machine, but it surprises me how quickly it becomes an issue. It’s one of my favourite parameters, but it’s like I can’t use it at all. And once the machine is out of sync, it doesn’t seem to matter if I turn all time stretching off. It’s fucked.

This is a major problem for my performances. Trying to figure out a solution without turning off the machine and completely interrupting a performance.

Is this my machine, or have other people experienced this problem? Anyone have any hacks or solutions for this? Similar experiences? My machine’s OS is up to date. Dunno what else to do…

are you midi sync’d to anything?
I’ve never had any lag or out of time samples (unless it was my fault they were out of time )

Madchiller · 2015-01-10T06:52:07.000Z

What cf card are you using?

Dataline · 2015-01-10T18:47:32.000Z

Hmm, never heard or saw such an issue. It would be best to contact support with a detailed description on how to replicate it.

Thanks!

mikedean · 2015-01-10T23:25:15.000Z

@musicmagus No, I have a MIDI foot controller plugged in but it’s an issue with or without this connected.

@Madchiller I’m using a Kingston ultimate 266X 32GB flash card. The card I got with the machine was a Kingston elite pro 133X. I would imagine my current card would be less of a problem?

@Baddcr No, only when I completely reboot the machine. I can’t reset the delay once the machine is on. I don’t know for sure if it does it when I don’t time stretch but, there seems to be a relationship. The more time stretching, the more it starts to delay.

Thanks for your replies! Any ideas based on this info? Could it be the flash card?

mikedean · 2015-01-10T23:34:39.000Z

@Dataline is this the kind of thing I would have to send the machine back and hope they can replicate based on instructions I provide?

Dataline · 2015-01-11T01:11:50.000Z

I am positive that you wont need to send your machine.

Madchiller · 2015-01-11T04:13:26.000Z

Static or flex machines? Mix of both? Large or smaller samples?

mikedean · 2015-01-11T17:59:17.000Z

@Madchiller I 'm not sure if it’s machine dependent as I use both consistently. Will have to test and report back.

@Baddcr Definitely not the LFO settings or pattern length offset. The problem usually starts as a matter of milliseconds, and builds from there. Not sure about tracks without effects. Will have to test this as well.

I’m not sure I’ll be able to finish a full test until this weekend. Will try to isolate the problem further then report back with my findings.

Thanks so much to everyone for the replies.

bambrose · 2015-01-12T11:00:05.000Z

my 2 cents, could be either sync issues (i.e. midi slaved but not synced properly) or midi feedback issues ?