Fluttering tempo with Beatclock – timefactor

[Dre]

I get some fluttering when using midibeat clock. Sending out of Protools through USB – the tembo in protools is 90 and it flutters give or take 3-4 beats. Sounds pretty chopy. Seemed to be working fine one day , but no more… any ideas? I have upgrated to the newest beta version.

[DGillespie]

What are you using for a midi device? Do you have the newest drivers for it? Are you running a lot of midi data?

There is a problem that sometimes arises with midi called midi slop which is when the timing of notes and clocks and other messages in a midi system slow down and get off. It used to be a bigger problem with older devices and computers that had less processing power, but it can still happen depending on the circumstances. A couple things to try would be to restart your machine, try running less midi data through your interface, or finally use TF as a midi device connected through your computers usb port as opposed to through a midi device.

Finally since TF is a delay and not a drum machine or synth. If your track stays at 90 bpm the whole time and you set TF to 90 bpm it doesn't actually need to recieve the clock to stay in sync. As long as the delay time is set correctly the output will follow the input regardless of the beat number.

[elliot]

This is actually a problem for me too. I'm not running any MIDI data except for MIDI clock over a very capable MIDI interface with a very capable computer – if details are required I can provide them, but this really seems to be an issue with the Factor pedals. While Dan's suggestion of simply inputing the same tempo is likely to work for many users, this isn't a good solution for me. I want to be able to get MIDI clock from a drum machine which is being tap tempo'ed live. So you can see that there is no way for the tempo to be communicated to my Factor pedals without MIDI clock.

It also seems to me that the MIDI jitter is worse at higher tempos. Usually the Factors can lock on and not drift up to around the 90 BPM range – which is where they start to drift by a few beats at a relatively low frequency. Increasing the tempo makes the drift amount and frequency much higher…very choppy indeed.

This is actually a much bigger problem for those of us who sprung for a Mod Factor because the audible problems are so much more pronounced with those types of effects. I have yet to try syncing the Mod Factor to MIDI clock in order to see if it actually pays attention to the beats (so the tremolo actually goes in time and not simply at the same tempo) but I really hope it does. I did, however, have the opportunity to verify that the Mod Factor does drift when sync'ed to MIDI clock as the Time Factor does.

Speaking of sync and the Mod Factor (hope I'm not hijacking the thread here) the secondary LFO should really be in sync with the primary. Currently these run completely independently such that the effect is always fairly random due to the wave forms not starting at the same time. I can see this being useful too, but save for when the preset is not sync'ed to tempo. When it is sync'ed to tempo, both LFO's should synchronize to the tempo and start at the same time. You'll notice quite a few posters stating that they find the secondary LFO completely useless…perhaps this could change some peoples' minds.

– Elliot

[elliot]

I just tried synchronizing via MIDI and tried various sources with FW 2.0.3[2]. The same results as seen before are still occuring. The delay sounds glitchy as the TF continually chases the MIDI clock. I'm guessing the Factor software needs to be written so when it sees a big difference in MIDI clock, (from what it expects) its sensitivity is lowered to lock in on the tempo, and then once the tempo is determined, the sensitivity should be raised so the BPM is not being constantly reset until it sees a big difference to lower the sensitiviity again and so on.

This feature is awesome and one of the main reasons I was drawn to purchase the Factor pedals. Unfortunately until this bug is worked out the feature is useless. I will try synchronizing via USB but this won't help me synch to a drum machine via MIDI when playing live. Hopefully the feature gets worked out soon. If you guys need details to help work out the kinks let us know.

Elliot

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