Hi Paul :) [email protected] wrote: > OK tried a few things as suggested by Ralf: > > jackd -- version produces: 103.0.6-etch1
This is a very outdate version, but anyway even this version shouldn't be the cause for this kind of latency you've got, but I guess this explains the reason why you only have a tab for JACK audio and ALSA MIDI for the QjackCtl connections. > in synaptic (it complains that not all repositories are available) > jackd is marked for upgrade (if I'm reading this right) but the > current version matches the installed version. I can imagine, but I'm not sure, that Debian stable isn't Etch any more, somebody else from the list should verify this and tell you what to do, e.g. to upgrade or not to upgrade jackd and by using what repositories. > I tried another gig file and there does seem some improvement but > can't be entirely sure - there is still noticeable delay using the > piano file suggested. > > Should I be able to hear delay when 2 pianos are layered, one in LS > and 1 as outboard midi? No there shouldn't be hearable delay. On my machine I'm not able to use external MIDI equipment, because of jitter. This means that I don't have just latency, but that the MIDI events send by my USB MIDInterface to external synth is completely unusable, because MIDI events sometimes are to early and sometimes they are to late. 1. You could have some delay if you play the virtual synth and the external synth in unison, but you monitor the external synth by having it's output(s) connected to your sound card. If so, the normal latency of the soundcard for the virtual synth is only effected by the output latency, while the external synth is effected by the input + output latency. If this should be the problem, try to decrease Frames/Period for JACK and for recordings correct the offset, e.g. Qtractor has got an offset option. 2. If you've got hearable MIDI jitter, than you have got the same problem I've got with Linux. If you need external synth and I bet you do so, because they've got a much better sound quality than all those virtual synth, try what I do at the moment. I try to make soundfonts of my external synth, because I'm short in time I didn't made any soundfont until now, by using an application called Swami. I fear that sound fonts aren't able to manage layered samples and that there's no GIG editor for Linux. If like to see if there's MIDI jitter, record "four to the floor" at 120 BPM, so that exactly every 500 msec a beat should start. Take a look to the recorded waveforms by using Audacity. There should be a short positive or negative delay, depends to the chosen latency correction, but there shouldn't be variations for any delay, the distance between two beats also must be 500 msecs. Some kernels are known for MIDI jitter, you can try to get another real-time kernel and it might be that your mobo isn't optimal for Linux, so in addition you can try to get an upgrade for your BIOS. I had bad luck with this and I know many people who had the same trouble, they are fine now, because they changed the OS for music. I still try to find a solution and keep on using Linux only, but because of this I'm unable to make the music I like to make. Btw. this "four to the floor" test don't give any information about if Linux is usable or unusable. A little bit jitter is tolerable, but even if you don't hear jitter for "four to the floor", when e.g. playing the kick by a virtual synth and the hi hat by an external synth, the groove can be completely broken, because of jitter. > If this is just how it is expected to be then that is different from > 'I have some sort of problem'. As always, thanks for you help. > > Paul :) Ralf _______________________________________________ 64studio-users mailing list [email protected] http://lists.64studio.com/mailman/listinfo/64studio-users
