Hey sorry to not as answer sooner catching up. Indeed we are shuffling MIDI clock and some machines handle it well while others don’t (modern MPCS for example). This is documented in the manual with machines from about a dozen manufacturers we tested. In this video we just published I show how I shuffle MIDI clock to an MPC 1000 which follows the shuffle very well:
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Interesting that you mention Maschine+ not working. My guess is that any gear that has it’s own CPU and linux/OS (newMPCs, Tonverk, Maschine+) won’t work well with Omniclock. On the other hand the Maschine+ does have abletonLink which is really tight but without the Omniclock shuffle functionality.
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This is a good explanation of midi clock and hints at what problems might occur from adjusting the midi clock.
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"That means using serial midi (5 pin or TRS) on hardware with serial midi in/outs (sequencers, synths, grooveboxes, midi thru boxes, midi routers etc.), as USB Midi interfaces (audio interfaces with built in midi in/out and dedicated usb midi interfaces) are also subject to the same limitations, right? Or can a dedicated midi interface be better than a direct usb midi connection straight to a computer?
99% of the time yes same limitations - but a purpose designed MIDI Interface built properly with good drivers will always be better than direct USB connection.
“Personally I try to avoid clock sync from/to my DAW and simply manually set the tempo on my hardware (using the most accurate sequencer I have as master) and then record into the DAW.
Using Overbridge to distribute midi clock from my DAW seems to work ok on my system, too.”
I know the method - too laborious and not very exact / rewarding / musical I find personally.
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There s no way to start stop Ableton while in that window so it s very cumbersome. Shifting clock with an assigned MIDI dial is much more intuitive and musical IMO. Also of course there no shuffle there and our clock stream generally tends to behave better when the CPU hangs etc. I find myself having to restart it much less.
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This is exactly the case, I ordered Maschine + and was looking forward to using its internal sounds, stand alone mode etc. but while it did slave to Omniclock, it did not shuffle. The same was the case with AKAI MPC Live III.
It seems these devices that have more processor power inside them, compared to say an MPC 1000, average out or regenerate the incoming MIDI clock. In all fairness, I think no one foresaw an shuffled MIDI Clock arriving at the in port.
The MPC Live III only slaved via the MIDI 5 Pin Port, not USB…
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Just to add some context, Omniclock is sold directly by us and isn’t available through Thomann or any other retailer. That means a Gearnews article about it doesn’t benefit Thomann in any direct way. In fact, if Gearnews were simply acting as an extension of a retailer’s catalogue, it would make more sense for them to focus on products that retailer actually sells.
It’s fair to disagree with their conclusions or writing style, but I don’t think it’s accurate to assume every positive article is paid promotion or tied to Thomann. In our case, they covered a product that isn’t even available through Thomann, which suggests there’s editorial independence in what they choose to feature.
It still benefits Thomann as long as Gearnews attracts enough visitors that might eventually land on a Thomann link under a Gearnews article. Gearnews is basically a condensed way of reading all kinds of marketing claims packaged as news articles/reviews, but they aren’t “Gearreviews” or “Gearcheck” so…
And I don’t hold any grievances against you guys. You offer a trial that just requires online activation once, so anyone can check out your plugin. That’s fair play.
Not really sure I believe it when you claim to have unplugged your Multiclock, though. Maybe you have…in any case, all the best.
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of topic a bit, but they are since it exists thomanns shopmagazin. but they also write about other things and place thomann links to similar stuff. they mostly refrase or copy the promomaterial they get.
edit: didnt see schnorks comment so thats a a bit redundant
looks great your product. i am all setup with a multiclock but would for shure test it out otherwise
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Thanks that’s fair. I honestly have indeed unplugged it, but I will not sell it: it is a great device.
Of course, you are competing with the machine’s algorithm that syncs up to tempo changes. Only a very naive implementations that basically advances the inner clock with the midi clock pulses it receives can transparently “swing” with an external clock. Anything that produces digital sound cannot rely on such a mechanism.
And If I’m doing the math correctly, you can only swing between 50% and ~58%, because at 24ppqn you’d have skipped a full clock pulse at more than 58%, which can trigger all sorts of reactions in the machine’s sync algorithm —to the machine that looks like a sudden drop to half the previous tempo. If I’m not mistaken, that rules out most variants of triplet swing by design, because that is ~60-66%.
Here’s an article from Attack Magazine that explain how swing actually works DAWs and drum machines, that’s where I get my numbers from:
Do I get this right, or am I missing anything?
In Reaper, I have never EVER been able to have my Digitone 2 sync immediately when in Overbridge-mode. It has always been a hit and miss experience, mostly terrible! I have tried countless options, but no luck.
But now, with Omniclock (by rapidflow), everything is tight as a f… in Reaper.
In the Omniclock plugin (inserted directly on the track where Digitone Overbridge lives), simply choose the usb connection to Digitone, delay the clock by about 26 ms (in my setup, at least).
Overbridge plugin needs to be set to “no sync”, plus in your daw´s midi preferences: do NOT send clock to Digitone.
Voilá, the tightest experience I have ever had. Every time.
Highly recommended!!!
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Forgot to mention; I have just tried this briefly, but the «shuffle» part does not do anything that I can hear, but anyway I was just looking to get the Overbridge tight. And it is!
Once I figured out I had to turn off everything else-- this plugin is amazing. I was about to buy a hardware device to allow me to sync but now I do not feel like I will need to! (and I can just use the A4 to sync my modular gear)
its kind of nuts how quickly you can hear the difference
i hope they add more presets-- I would love to see some /2 /4 as opposed to just X2 X4
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We are looking at adding more shuffle presets 100%
So great to hear this is working now, try one of the other shuffle curves in the menu, ELEK is marked my Digitcone 1 does shuffle 
Sound on Sound tested Omniclock! Read it here: SOS review
Good SoS review. They really run it through its paces.
Over USB, however, Omniclock was the loosest source in the test … Curiously, Bitwig clocking over the same USB connection didn’t show the same deviations.
More telling, though, is that Bitwig’s internal clock was already within microseconds of the GridLock II’s near‑perfect results. For raw accuracy, Omniclock isn’t necessarily giving you anything your DAW can’t already deliver.
Don’t expect it to outdo your DAW’s own clock in terms of accuracy. Treat it as the convenience plug‑in it is, and you’ll get your money’s worth.
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