tr8-s midi mutes

8 Sep 2022, 02:48

Hi All
A quick question: are mutes midi or audio in TR8-s? I am looking for midi ones, as in analog rytm. If not TR8s, any roland performance machine have midi mutes?
Thanks

Re: tr8-s midi mutes

12 Sep 2022, 12:55

If you mean the mute function using the buttons on the front, it's midi in the sense that it stops that instrument (eg BD) from producing midi note on/off messages, but it doesn't record a volume change or anything. Not sure if that helps???

Re: tr8-s midi mutes

12 Sep 2022, 14:58

Thanks for the good news.
Actually quite logical given that there are volume faders right above :)

On second thought, it would help to have patterns remember mute status when changing pattern but that is a known issue also with Elektrons.

Re: tr8-s midi mutes

12 Sep 2022, 15:24

WarriorLite wrote:

Thanks for the good news

You’re welcome. Must admit I didn’t know about mute status not being saved but I mainly use the TR to build loops and then record the midi into Cubase so it’s not a feature I use much.

Re: tr8-s midi mutes

12 Sep 2022, 15:36

Okay, so you build loops, record into cubase and have cubase send this midi to TR as you build more parts in cubase?
I am asking because that would imply rock-solid stability of the cubase-roland bridge. I heard you could have 8 track audios come simultaneously from MC707 to DAW. If I understand correctly, you do this for a max of TR tracks for audio while midi is sent the other way. That would be impressive - and rare.

Re: tr8-s midi mutes

12 Sep 2022, 16:44

Basically, yes. Cubase sends midi to the TR-8S and 6 synths through a 10-port USB hub. The audio comes back through the same hub, some directly as USB audio, some as analog going into a Zoom L-20R in interface mode (ie just acting as an A/D converter) and then as USB audio into Cubase. The TR-8S, the Zoom and my Jupiter-X are combined as an aggregate audio device.

So a typical track has around 15-20 simultaneous midi and audio USB streams. Timing is rock solid and latency just over 10ms.

That’s why I like my M1 MacBook, not sure it would be possible with Windows.

Re: tr8-s midi mutes

15 Sep 2022, 06:01

10ms is a good result for such a complex setup. Especially given that you can't opt out from quantizing on TR8.

You probably don't feel the added value of an M1 though. A windows computer at a quarter of its price delivers at 64 samples.

Still, with so many tracks, that is a very decent result for the whole setup ^^

Re: tr8-s midi mutes

15 Sep 2022, 12:44

I assume by 64 samples you mean buffer rather than latency? If I drop the buffer to the minimum 32 samples, latency is only 6ms, not that the difference is really noticeable. A latency of 64 samples would be extremely impressive.

The problem with Windows is that (afaik) you can't use two audio interfaces at once. I've seen a lot of discussion about ASIO4ALL but mostly to the effect that it doesn't work reliably when aggregating devices. That's strictly second hand info though.

Re: tr8-s midi mutes

16 Sep 2022, 14:17

AFAIK windows handles more than one card, but would not want this exchange to turn into an argument about the two corporations :)
I am aware many apple fans happen to be preoccupied with this distinction.
Thank you for your replies regarding TR-8s, very much appreciated.

Re: tr8-s midi mutes

16 Sep 2022, 15:56

You’re very welcome, and yes I was thinking myself this was in danger of becoming a Windows v Mac heated debate! I actually got the MB for app development, otherwise I’d most likely still be using a PC for music. But having paid over the odds for a laptop we feel the need to justify our purchase :-)

Nice chatting about the TR-8S anyway!