OT using AR or AK as clock/ soundcard (overbridge)

barmyarmy · 2014-12-19T14:40:58.000Z

Hey guys, so I have an AR and AK but not yet the OT. One of the attractive features of the AR and AK for me will be Overbridge, since I enjoy working in Ableton too, and the Overbridge will hopefully prevent me from having to buy an expensive innerclock or similar (it is claimed that Overbridge will solve all latency issues).
So my question is, although OT won’t be getting Overbridge, isn’t there a way to get around this. For example, couldn’t the OT sync to the clock of say the AR via midi and then the computer also to the clock of AR via USB and overbridge?
Thanks a lot for your help, it will be a big factor in my decision about whether or not to buy the OT!

udenjoe · 2014-12-19T15:57:36.000Z

You should only need one of them for clock. I would think trying to synchronize two to Ableton would be more difficult than synchronizing one to Ableton and everything else to that one.

Currently you should be able to slave Ableton to one of the two you already have.

barmyarmy · 2014-12-19T16:11:44.000Z

hey thanks yeah that’s kinda true but there is always some latency and I understood one of the objectives of overbridge was to solve this? So I’m wondering if chaining the OT to one of the other machines will allow it to also benefit !

PeterHanes · 2014-12-19T19:37:40.000Z

""barmyarmy"":

Hey guys, so I have an AR and AK but not yet the OT. One of the attractive features of the AR and AK for me will be Overbridge, since I enjoy working in Ableton too, and the Overbridge will hopefully prevent me from having to buy an expensive innerclock or similar (it is claimed that Overbridge will solve all latency issues).
So my question is, although OT won’t be getting Overbridge, isn’t there a way to get around this. For example, couldn’t the OT sync to the clock of say the AR via midi and then the computer also to the clock of AR via USB and overbridge?
Thanks a lot for your help, it will be a big factor in my decision about whether or not to buy the OT!

A system only needs one clock source for the other units to sync to, so if your planned system has a reliable clock source then the rest of the instruments can sync to it.
There are many reports about the poor reliability of syncing Ableton Live as slave to another source - people say that it works better as the master. You might end up syncing the Elektrons to Live rather than Live to the Elektrons. Many people already do this before Overbridge has been released.

insect · 2014-12-26T21:18:57.000Z

just a question. Do you talk about audio latency when you send AR/A4 via your soundcard in into ableton? I guess this problem will not solve by Overbridge but may solve with a thunderbold soundcard. This latency is introduced by digital/analog converting of soundcard and the daw.

Try to change the clock delay in ableton (or logic) in preferences. So the midiclock will send out some ms before the real clock. This can compensate the audio latency introduced by digital / analog converting of the soundcard.

Another option when you playing live is, using the dsp mixer of your soundcard. The incoming audio from A4 and Machindrum in my case are mixed with audio from ableton via the focusrite dsp mixer on the sound card and goes directly to main out of the soundcard. so no latency is introduced for incoming audio. And the Machinedrum and A4 are nearly in clock within an hour ;))

insect · 2014-12-26T21:29:23.000Z

have a listen here. You may recognise some little time shiftings in the beat when the machine drum runs a bit out of the clock.

https://soundcloud.com/insect-o/etui-podcast-14-insect-o-live-at-electronic-valley-2014

Ableton live with audio stemps and midi notes and Focusrite soundcard
Machine Drum MK2 gets midi clock from Ableton and sends midi to Ableton midi track with NI Battery
Analog Four gets midi clock from Ableton via usb and sends audio to soundcard
Korg Volca bass gets midi notes from Ableton and sends audio to soundcard
midi clock delay set to -20ms in Ableton preferences

I guess the midi clocking is okay for a live set. so the slight time shifts give a nice groovy feel.

CAJAK · 2016-07-27T15:38:09.877Z

Has anyone managed to make this work?
I am also having issues slaving my OT to Ableton so I have my AR slaved to Ableton via overbridge and the OT connected to the AR Midi Thru set to receive clock and transport but does not work.

stutech · 2016-07-27T16:30:19.493Z

The USB midi data does not carry over to the DIN port. You need to use MIDI out and config the AR to both receive and send clock & transport.