Analogue-sequencer

> what ive noticed about   the Memrymoog. .   the midi   timing 
> is   pretty 
> sloppy.
> is   this due   to the z80   cpu?

It's not the CPUs fault.
I measured the latency on my JP8 (also a Z80) with Groove MIDI interface,
against my 909 triggering a rimshot synced to the P3.
The latency on the JP8, including MIDI latency, was between 4 and 10 ms,
averaging about 6ms.
This sort of delay is imperceptible unless you are using very, very short
transient sounds, and listening very carefully.
Even then, it's more in the comb filtering range than audible delay.

But absolutely rock solid timing didn't seem to have been a top priority
back in the day, and usually suffered at the hands of poor software design.
I've got an old magazine article somewhere, where the author set up a timing
test for various synths to measure the latency between the arrival of a MIDI
note on, and the appearance of audio at the output.
The worst cases were like 30 to 40ms IIRC. Which is    very     noticeable
indeed.

A shame really, since all those MM hardware envelope generators should be
capable of super snappy sounds.
I have to avoid synths like that, since they tend to make me want to 'fix'
them.

Best regards,
Colin Fraser
Sequentix Music Systems Ltd
http://www.sequentix.com