Here is a recent study about which DAWs have midi jitter problems. Apparently studio one, loguic and digital performer have problems.  Cubase , reaper and ableton have correct timing.

And X2?

Just to check routing I opened X1d and compared settings. All were the same.

I started a new project in X1 and recorded on a MIDI track (same as I did in X2).
Everything worked as expected. And played back fine.

FYI this is just a straight 4/4 drum beat with Hi-Hat, kick, snare and crash.

Well everything except my V-Control Plus. I couldn't get X1 to see it as a MIDI input device, only output.
V-Control works in X2 tho.

John, I don't use a sample player. I record MIDI data and play it back through the brain of either the Simmons or SPD-20. Then I record each drum to a track and replace the crappy sound with Drumagog.

I've also noticed a clicking sound when I have the SPD-20 connected to either the 18i6 or MIDISport.
I'm guessing it's some sort of clock but I never heard it with any other interface.

Maybe I'll roll back the mix control and driver to the previous versions.

Thanks for trying guys. 

Mike

Well when I updated the Mix Control and the driver it also updated the firmware...

So when I delete the current and go to install the previous it says the firmware has been updated and wont let me roll back.

Sigh!

I hate to get drastic but I wonder if the PC is acting up?
I just noticed that the desktop icon for X1 is a white square.

Might have to do a total PC wipe and re-install fresh.

And to be safe I'm going to install 8.5.3, X1 and X2.
One of them should work.

Mike

backwoods has failed to put things into context in terms of that article. Firstly they are talking about midi signals triggering internal VST instruments live. They also say these results have nothing to do with how a sequencer records and plays back this data. As many of us are not doing the live thing and we are using sequencers then this article is not so relevant to most of us.

Also it is not talking about triggering external midi devices. In this mode Studio One is very solid and tight and better than most other DAW's including Sonar which to me does some funny things to external midi timing while the audio is processing heavily. Not so in Studio One. External timing is very tight and relentless and you always get back exactly what you play in. They go on about it and it is true. I supposed I am a bit old fashioned in terms of using external devices but they do work rather well, they are blatantly fast  and avoid many problems. 

I agree though that this article does point out how some hosts are behaving in terms of playing VST's live which for some could be very important. (I would be playing an instrument live, nothing beats it really!) Sonar is not even mentioned in that article as well. It would be interesting to see how Sonar does in this test. Also I can still see some issues with triggering VST's live and I don't think it is bullet proof yet. I am surprised that Mainstage did not fair so well after all that it is what it is supposed to do best. Even if I were using a computer live to play backing tracks I would still use a hardware instrument on top of that.

And in any sequencing situation one should be listening closely as to how the timing is of tracks playing back and also after freezing things etc one can get in there and fine tune any timing issues as well in a final production, so when that is all taken into account that article is also not so important. 

And on the odd occasions where I have played a VST live say through Studio One or Sonar or most DAW's for that matter I have never really felt it to be a problem. Once you set the buffers low that VST is going to respond pretty quickly in the long run. And if the musical ideas are really good then none of it is going to matter that much either.

John, I don't use a sample player. I record MIDI data and play it back through the brain of either the Simmons or SPD-20. Then I record each drum to a track and replace the crappy sound with Drumagog.

Why not use a drum VSTi sample player like Session Drummer 3 with MIDI you have already recorded?

I understand what you're saying John and appreciate the help.
But for one I need at least 12 and sometimes up to 16 drum tracks (for fx cymbals, cowbells and such) and SD3 has I believe only 8 or so.
I also don't really like the sounds of most VST drums.

Drumagog and Trigger have real drums recorded in real rooms and follow the velocity of hits. Also most have the OH's and room mic's available to blend in.

I'm not really a 'MIDI' guy so I don't install all the synths and extras I'll never use so I don't believe I even had SD3 installed.
The last time I looked at it was in a video when they updated it to add 2 more tracks.

But that's just me and my quirky workflow.  


Mike

You may want to look at a good drum synth such a BFD2 or one of the others.

Any good drum synth uses samples that were recorded in a room with real drums. 

I like BFD2 very much I also have Battery 3 which is also a good one. BFD2 is very realistic and is very tweakable too.

Session Drummer 3 is also a decent drum synth. But is is as you noted not as versatile as the above mentioned.   

uninstall mix control.
Reboot (important step)
Install latest mix control.

If that doesn't work try the same with the latest focusrite beta drivers, if they exist on their beta page. Cheers.

Also what is your midi clock set as? Cheers.