Can Midi Translator add some delay time to my midi arpegio?

Can Midi Translator be used to slow down or add time to the note's midi clock?

I have the Akai Advance49. My problem is the arpeggio and note repeat functions are 1/6 of a step too soon in Cubase, Nuendo, and Fl Studio. Checking the time log, it appears they are stamped about 8 units too early. Is there a way to add a delay or latency to my midi notes so they actually sync up? I've tried 3 different Advance 49 keyboards on 3 different computers and the notes are early on all of them. The manufacturer swears I'm the only one with this issue and has no solution. I'm hoping the issue can be solved using software.

I noticed Midi Translator has a timer, but I'm not sure if delaying when the note is sent will fix anything since the time clock might still be predated. I'm new to midi and MT, so any help would be appreciated.

Hi Woodgrain816

While this is possible, it's a very complicated ordeal. I'd imagine there would be an easier way to handle this in your DAWs. Can you set a delay directly in the software? There should be a way to kind of dial in the accuracy, if I'm not mistaken. I would recommend contacting the software developers as well to see if they can help.

If not, then we can put something together, it's just hard because MIDI Translator works with milliseconds, and would need to know the tempo value from your software as it changes, and then update the delay.

Thanks
Jared

Hi, just to clarify: it might be that the delay is fixed (independent of tempo), or you're always using the same tempo anyway... then it's very easy to just delay all notes by a fixed number of milliseconds.

A timer is not even necessary, you can use the "Outgoing Action Delay" at the very bottom of the right translator editor.

THanks,
Florian

I would like to try that. Does the Outgoing delay actually change the midi clock associated with the note? How exactly do I set it up so each note on my Advance49 is "100" milliseconds or whatever later? Do I have to route the midi control to a virtual ports and use those as inputs and outputs in my DAW?

yes, you'd use the typical setup where you put MT Pro in between your DAW and your AKAI MIDI device. This setup is explained in MT Pro's user manual. In short:

MT Pro MIDI Routes:
AKAI INPUT --> MT Virtual 1
MT Virtual 1 --> AKAI OUTPUT

DAW:
select MT Virtual 1 as input and output instead of the AKAI. Make sure that the AKAI is NOT selected.

Now with this setup, everything should work as before. The MIDI LED in MT Pro's Event Monitor should blink when playing on the AKAI.

Now create a preset "Add Delay". In the Preset Properties --> Default MIDI INPUT Ports, check the checkbox of the AKAI port.

In this preset, create two translators like this:
Essentially, the outgoing actions just copy the incoming actions, but delayed.

Very important is to check the "Swallow MIDI Messages" checkbox, otherwise both the original and the delayed MIDI messages are sent to your DAW.

It is possible to control the delay with a variable to achieve some dynamic delay. But for now, the delay above is fixed to 100ms, but you should be able to adjust it to your liking. Make sure to always change it in both translators, otherwise you might get hanging notes.

Hope this will get you started!
THanks,
Florian

20ms works perfect with a PPQ set to 24 on FL Studio. The only thing now is the very first notes don't show up. I'll guess that's workable. Appreciate your help. I'll do more experimenting and try to get the drum pads working now. Depending on the tempo sometimes 15ms works, and sometimes 25ms works. Is there a way to change the number based on the tempo? It seems to be about 50-15% of the BPM in MS. 50bpm = 25ms. 100ms = 15ms. I'm in a session now, but when I get done, I'm going to provide more details.

Glad to hear that!
You can use MT Pro's Log Window to see in detail what's happening, and to find out why the first note is not being passed on.
Florian

If you Google something like "Cubase midi recorded early," you'll see this is a problem 1000's of people have been having for over a decade. If someone could invent a simple little software program that provided some sort of "midi offset," I think it would be very beneficial. I'd pay for it. Especially since there's only 1 or 2 DAWs that offer some sort of midi offset. The only other "solution" I've seen is an Innerlock sync-loc or Gen II midi system that costs $500-$1000 and only deals with hardware midi. That's not really a solution when your midi controller only accepts midi-clock via the USB midi in.