Wiggum Posted February 13, 2001 Share Posted February 13, 2001 Hey all, It's not uncommon to the see the "MIDI sucks" attitude in some discussion forums. Some folks claim the timing is unacceptable, and cite artists that have abolished MIDI altogether (Chemical Brothers and some groove artists). Is their any validity to this claim? From my recollection, the latency for a direct MIDI connection is ~1 ms. Is there anyone with the ability to play with more rythmic detail than this? Further, if all events are equally delayed by 1 ms, does it really matter? How much does the latency compound when you chain devices together, or run a thru port through your computer? This "MIDI sucks" attitude sounds a lot like elitist drivel, and I'm curious how others feel about it. All the best, Wiggum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guestuserguestuser.com Posted February 13, 2001 Share Posted February 13, 2001 Originally posted by Wiggum: It's not uncommon to the see the "MIDI sucks" attitude in some discussion forums. Some folks claim the timing is unacceptable, and cite artists that have abolished MIDI altogether (Chemical Brothers and some groove artists). I think timing slop in the synths at the receiving end is more often the cause than midi itself. I proved this to myself years ago with a few basic tests on some of the synths I had at hand. There are certain ones that display a lot of slop if you send them a huge chord (like, 32 or 64 notes) with the notes separated by only one 'tick' (edit it in your sequencer until it's like this). Some synths can handle it, and it sounds like a big chord. With others, it gets 'arpeggiated' at the receiving end because the synth can't play the notes fast enough. To make the test equal, you have to use patches that use only one layer. My $.02 worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 I agree; there's a lot of variation from synth to synth. There is a problem with MIDI; you just have to be aware of it (I guess a limitation is a better word than problem). There is limited amount of information you can transmit, and problems arise if have a lot of continuous controller info, for instance. I don't think it's a show stopper, and it's by no means unusable. You have to remember that the spec is some 18 years old, and it shows. The delay figure you mentioned is relative. If you have just few notes, but if the sequencer is spitting out tons of cc info on different channels you may see a problem. Try running a few tracks on the sequencer where you've recorded aftertouch, mod wheel and pitch bend for instance. 1ms is negligible, but I doubt it's representative of what happens. Or try to run complex midi sequences that have been quantized. You end up having tons of notes trying to sound on the the first tick of the measure, and you may hear a delay. People just like to complain. I think it's unheard of in any other industry a connectivity standard that has lasted 18 years (and going). Look at what happened to digital audio (SPDIF, TDIF, AES/ABU, ADAT lightpipe). Yes, it's got limitation. (1) Deal with it; (2) Don't always blame the standard. ;-) We'll see what happens with M-Lan. Rodrigo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggum Posted February 14, 2001 Author Share Posted February 14, 2001 Good points... I don't think the magazine reviews pay enough attention to MIDI response. Occasionally you will see a reference to a really tight (or a really loose) synth, but I really wish there was a standard way of measuring it (or at least a semi-objective rating scale). The CC issue is also interesting. Thankfully you can filter this stuff out on most of the computer-based sequencers. All the best, Wiggum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratman_dup1 Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 I CAN'T WAIT to see what kind of effect mlan (sr??) is going to have on the whole midi timing issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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