Elektron Musical Instruments

I was curious if the MD MIDI machines are subject to the same timing inconsistencies, so I re-ran the test:

MD original triggering its own internal rimshot: 97 samples / 33ms (once every 4 measures)
MD triggering the MC-80 rimshot: 90 samples / 31ms (once every 4 measures)
MD triggering the Nord pulse: 64 samples / 22ms (once every 4 measures)

further egged on by this discovery (that the MD MIDI machines are a bit better timing-wise than the internal MD synth/sample engine), I reran the RS7k and MC-80 triggering the Nord:

RS7k triggering the Nord pulse: 123 samples / 42 ms (once - almost twice - every 4 measures)
MC-80 triggering the Nord pulse: 13 samples / 4 ms (twice every 4 measures)

I was disappointed to see that the RS7k (originally 130 samples triggering its own internal rimshot) didn't improve, so clearly the RS7k timing slop is mostly due to its sequencer timing.  but the MC-80 (originally 62 triggering its own internal rimshot) had a DRASTIC improvement when triggering the Nord over MIDI.

Returning to the MD, however, reexamining the numbers:

33ms internal MD sound
31ms external MC-80 sound
22ms external Nord sound

It seems there could be as much as 33% of the MD's overall timing slop could be due to the synth/sample playback engine, whereas the remaining 67% could be due to the sequencing engine.  This is by no means an exhaustive scientific study, however, a preliminary one whose results are a bit intriguing...

I wonder if there is any correlation between older Roland sequencers and solid sequencer timing design, since the MC4B and TR-808/909 have been mentioned in positive light so far during this discussion.  If people out there have other Roland sequencers, old or new, I'd be curious to hear from you how they measure up.  If you need some assistance in doing the measurements in Sound Forge, send me a direct email and I'd be happy to help.

Cheers.



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