MIDI Delay

[Nick_dup7]

I am confused about an article I read in "Keyboard" November 2000. It was the article about David Bryan of Bon Jovi.

 

David Bryan said:

"My main keyboard is a Yamaha P500. It doesn't have the usual MIDI delay or disconnect I feel with MIDI keyboards, It really plays like a piano. Then I have two Yamaha S80s, although even with the piano expansion boards installed, there is too much delay when I play the piano sounds. That's why I keep bringing along my P500. The S80s trigger the Akai (S6000), and I use their Wurly and string sounds."

 

I am a drummer, and I recently bought an S80 to learn keyboards and write music. My timing is not terrible, and I have not noticed any delay with the on-board sounds. I don't understand David Bryan noticing delay on piano expansion boards, and still using the S80 to control his Akai S6000s.

 

Can someone in this forum shed some light on this?

[Dave Bryce]

Originally posted by Nick:

My timing is not terrible, and I have not noticed any delay with the on-board sounds. I don't understand David Bryan noticing delay on piano expansion boards, and still using the S80 to control his Akai S6000s.

 

Can someone in this forum shed some light on this?

 

I noticed this quote as well. I was also confused by Mr. Bryan's comment, as I never noticed any latency problems on the S80. although I have never played one with the piano expansion board in it.

 

I will email the Yamaha folks and see if they can shed some light on this.

 

dB

[Nick_dup7]

Dave

 

Thanks for your reply!

 

I would be really interested to hear what Yamaha have to say about this.

 

The background to my question is the fact that I did not purchase my first choice board. I really wanted the Kurzweil PC2X, but Kurzweil are poorly represented here in Thailand. So, I thought it would be safer to go with the S80 as Yamaha have a serious presence here. My biggest gripe about the S80 is the fact that it is impossible to make a smooth transition between voices.

 

Anyway, my logic was to buy a board that could be maintained if it goes wrong, and to add Kurzweil rack modules later (when I can play a bit).

 

I thought this would give me the best of both worlds. Good service available for the controller itself, and all the sound and performance facilities I want in the more-reliable rack form.

 

However, if there really is a latency problem, I've screwed up!

 

Keyboards scare me a bit after years playing drums, there was a comfort in being able to sort out any mechanical problems with an instrument myself. It seems that, without good advice (or a lot of knowledge), it's possible to throw a lot of money at a keyboard setup and end up way short of expectations.

 

Nick