midi-latency-in-tutorials

I've made a post about such a thing on the Ableton forum

http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=143360&p=1141997#p1141997

In Live if you place a complex M4L device to the left of any plugin that needs sync it goes out of sync. The more M4L devices you place the more the plugins to the right in the chain suffer from out of sync issues.

For instance I create a track place a complex M4L MIDI device on it then I place a Live Arpaggiator after it on the same track. The arpaggiator is out of sync by a long shot. So I delete the M4L device and then the arpaggiator works perfectly in sync.

This is either poor MIDI delay compensation in Live or a failure of the M4L device to report the correct latency to Live.

Is this the same latency your talking about?

In Live if you place a complex M4L device to the left of any plugin that needs sync it goes out of sync. The more M4L devices you place the more the plugins to the right in the chain suffer from out of sync issues. 

> Is this the same latency your talking about?

Please can we have an official response on this?

I just want to know specifically what causes it and if there's a possible way around it currently.

I did some time measurements and found that the midi delay between M4L midi effects on the same track seems propertional to the audio buffer size. I've also noticed substantial jitter. So basically the delay is unpredictable.

I think it's a serious problem deserving an official comment.

http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=144221

Still waiting for an official response..


as soon as you save your patch, close the edit window and you start using the patch just inside live as instrument or effect.. the latency is gone.

midi latency only occurs in edit mode...
as soon as you save your patch, close the edit window and you start using the patch just inside live as instrument or effect.. the latency is gone.

"midi latency only occurs in edit mode..."

Yes, that's true for a single device, and probably answers the original question.

But the problem discussed later on this thread refers to latency of multiple midi effect devices on the same track, and this definitely happens also in performance mode.

Sure about that? I'm pretty certain I have seen a very small latency from the step sequencer for instance. If you record the midi output from the included step sequencer to another midi track the notes are off by a fraction. You have to zoom in quite a bit for it to be noticeable, but it's there.

Yes, strictly speaking there is a bit latency. I've just checked recording the step sequencer and measured latency of about a tenth of a 1/16384th note. At bpm120 this corresponds to about 0.01ms. So it's not sample accurate but I think can be called 'no latency' in the midi world.

Yes, generally it won't make any difference, but if you, after that, place something that syncs to the internal live tempo, like arpeggiators and stuff, I'm not sure how much latency wyou will need to "miss" a beat. Probably not much, possibly none, since it's usually a good idea to send midi to control step sequencers and stuff a little bit early normally...

In fact, the latency between devices on the same track is *much* higher.

Put 2 step sequencers on the same track (with 'midi thru' activated on the 2nd), both playing notes on the beat but with different pitch, and record the midi output.

Good point.
In fact, the latency between devices on the same track is *much* higher.

Please try this.
Put 2 step sequencers on the same track (with 'midi thru' activated on the 2nd), both playing notes on the beat but with different pitch, and record the midi output.

Sorry to resurrect this ancient thread, but was this ever resolved? I've fallen victim of the same problem, trying to create a step-sequencer that my drummer activates. Terrible latency if I use more than one Max device.

They can be on separate tracks and still cause the same problem if they talk to each other... :(

Thinking of combining as many as I can into one mega-device, or will I still have the same problem? Is there any other work around?

Sorry to resurrect this ancient thread, but was this ever resolved?  I've fallen victim of the same problem, trying to create a step-sequencer that my drummer activates.  Terrible latency if I use more than one Max device.

Thinking of combining as many as I can into one mega-device, or will I still have the same problem?  Is there any other work around?


midi latency in tutorials