• SONAR
  • Help: Syncing External Synth With Sonar
2016/08/07 07:53:20
HeplMeh
Hi guys,

So I'm having a few issues trying to set up my JD-Xi with Sonar and have a few questions.

What I'm trying to do is, use my JD-Xi to record midi into Sonar (Working)
Then I'm trying to send that Midi data back to the JD-Xi via Midi and using the JD-Xi sounds, to then play back into Sonar through the (Headphones out) on the JD-Xi into a Scarlett Solo Mic/Line Amp then into Sonar via a audio track so I can monitor it while recording the Midi or else I can't hear what I'm recording in Sonar when I'm playing the JD-Xi.

I am able to get the Midi to play the JD-Xi sounds and am I able to play the keyboard and hear the audio coming into Sonar via the Scarlett, but the Sound is lagging over a full second before playing out the Audio Track in Sonar.  I can also visually see the delay in the Track Input meters if that means anything.

Any suggestions how to sync the audio sound up with the Midi playback?
2016/08/07 11:06:31
Anderton
One possibility is to turn off Input Echo on SONAR to prevent MIDI data from going  back to the JD-Xi, turn on Local Control at the JD-Xi so that your playing triggers the internal sound generators, and then feed the JD-Xi output directly into SONAR. This avoids the latency that would occur from going into SONAR, coming back out, and then sending the audio back in again.
 
However, even with what you describe, 1 second of latency seems unusually long. Make sure you're using the proper ASIO drivers and the smallest number of sample buffers that still gives reliable operation.
2016/08/07 11:46:10
markyzno
Make sure the JD-XI isn't turning up as an audio device as it can be detected as a sound card, go into control panel and sound and disabled it. Might be worth a try.
2016/08/07 12:44:33
brundlefly
Anderton
One possibility is to turn off Input Echo on SONAR to prevent MIDI data from going  back to the JD-Xi, turn on Local Control at the JD-Xi so that your playing triggers the internal sound generators, and then feed the JD-Xi output directly into SONAR. This avoids the latency that would occur from going into SONAR, coming back out, and then sending the audio back in again.
 
However, even with what you describe, 1 second of latency seems unusually long. Make sure you're using the proper ASIO drivers and the smallest number of sample buffers that still gives reliable operation.


Testing with Local Control on the keyboard might be worth a try just as a 'sanity check' that there isn't some MIDI driver issue. Otherwise, I've never seen a MIDI round-trip latency (RTL) plus synth response delay totaling more than about 12ms, worst case.
 
More likely the latency being encountered is audio, and the main things that need to be checked are the audio buffer size and that there aren't any plugins in the project using look-ahead buffers that induce Plugin Delay Compensation (PDC).
 
I would also guess that the latency isn't really as high as 1 second; 100-200 milliseconds can seem like a lifetime when you're trying to play an instrument. If it really is a whole second, Craig might be on the right track and there's something wrong with the MIDI interface driver. I recall some user(s) having problem with MIDI latency due to having a USB2 interface on a USB3 port.
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