Random notes, latency issues..

The G2M™ Universal Guitar to MIDI Converter.

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NickTup
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2010 7:25 pm

Random notes, latency issues..

Post by NickTup »

Hi, I bought both Sonuus G2M and B2M so that I could use them as controllers for my vsts, but unfortunely after months of frustration, I haven't been able to make these work properly at all. I've searched in every other forum about problems with MIDI for a solution with no success, so I hope I can find it here.

I'm using Cubase 5, before that I was using Cubase 4 but it did not work either way. The system is a Windows XP SP2 (i'm not absolutely sure about the service pack edition, though) and the sound card I'm using is a Line 6 TonePort UX2. The MIDI connector i'm using is probably by Roland, i'm not sure, I got this from a friend and it was working perfectly with his MIDI keyboard. This cable is a MIDI USB, but there are two MIDI inputs, when installing the drive for this cable, you can either choose it to make one of these inputs a slave or not, honestly I find it very confusing that there are two inputs but maybe that is not relevant for what is going on..

When I plug in my guitar cabble in my Sonuus G2M, the Power light goes green and whenever I strum the strings on my instrument the orange MIDI light starts flashing as if it was processing and converting my guitar signal into MIDI notes. On Cubase, I open an instrument track, then Kontakt or any other VST and on the Input Routing I select Roland Serial MIDI Input.

Now whenever I start playing notes separately, there's a lot of latency and the notes reproduced do not math with the notes i'm playing at all, in fact, sometimes if I play only one note, the program reproduces multiple notes in a very erratic and random way. It is not even a problem of pitch, because if I stay on the same note, the notes played by the VST vary greatly even though i'm playing the same note over and over again, so I have no control whatsoever to work with these kind of bugs.

I've checked the drivers on my TonePort and they are up to date, all I can think of is probably the driver for my MIDI cable but I reinstalled it multiple times and nothing changed. I've also did something a while back to display all the drivers in Cubase, I don't remember exactly what it was, but for example, now I can choose between Roland Serial Midi Input and Roland Serial MIDI Input (Emulated), and that did not change anything either.

Is there any kind of tests that I can do to check what exactly is wrong? I've did many and many processes and exhausting attempts to fix these problems but I haven't got any close from solving this.

Please, I would like to know if you have any more ideas so that I can one day make work..

Thanks

Nick
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james
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Posts: 1866
Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:12 pm

Re: Random notes, latency issues..

Post by james »

Hi Nick,

As a starting point, it might be simpler to test with the B2M in Chromatic mode (the G2M doesn't have chromatic mode so will always send lots of pitch-bend messages, and for this test it's easier if there is no pitch bend).

Play a "middle" note (say 3 string 7 fret), on your guitar (then you don't have to worry about the inherent latency or the low notes). The MIDI LED should flash to show you it's sending MIDI, and at the same time as the flash you should hear some MIDI sound (well within a few ms if everything is setup correctly, but you shouldn't be able to see/hear any gap). That's a good way to check where the latency is in the system. If there is an obvious gap between the B2M MIDI LED and the sound, the problem is in the computer (hardware/drivers/software).

Now to the "program reproduces multiple notes in a very erratic and random way". Since you are in chromatic mode, if you hold the note steady, the B2M won't send more MIDI data (i.e., no pitch-bend) after the note has started playing. Worst-case, if it gets the starting note slightly wrong, it will send a corrected version soon afterwards. Normally, the note you play will just sustain for a long time and the MIDI LED won't be flashing. If you do this, what do you hear? You should head just a single sustained note.

Other thoughts: do you have anything connected to the THRU connection? Are you powering the G2M/B2M with a battery or external PSU?
NickTup
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2010 7:25 pm

Re: Random notes, latency issues..

Post by NickTup »

Hi James!

I tried using B2M in Chromatic mode like you said, it's working soooo much better now! I think it's functioning all right with no major problems, maybe it's just a matter of getting accustomed to playing MIDI guitar... If I come along with any doubts or problems I will let you know!

A side from that, I didn't know I could use B2M for both bass and guitar... I didn't do anything in terms of configuration or anything like that, I just switched the G2M for the B2M in chromatic mode and it's working perfectly now, does this mean I have a faulty G2M? It would be very interesting to apply the pitch bend dynamics of the guitar with the G2M, but i'm afraid it is not working at all as the pitch detection seems to be half or one tone below from what i'm actually playing, aside from the fact that it triggers many notes at the same time if I try to bend the string or simply change how hard i'm hitting the string or how fast i'm playing it...

I'm also curious to know why does tapping the strings sometimes works way more accurately than actually playing them with a pick or fingers?

Thanks,
Nick
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james
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Posts: 1866
Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:12 pm

Re: Random notes, latency issues..

Post by james »

A side from that, I didn't know I could use B2M for both bass and guitar... I didn't do anything in terms of configuration or anything like that, I just switched the G2M for the B2M in chromatic mode and it's working perfectly now, does this mean I have a faulty G2M? It would be very interesting to apply the pitch bend dynamics of the guitar with the G2M, but i'm afraid it is not working at all as the pitch detection seems to be half or one tone below from what i'm actually playing, aside from the fact that it triggers many notes at the same time if I try to bend the string or simply change how hard i'm hitting the string or how fast i'm playing it...
How does the B2M work on the guitar with pitch-bend? Is it much better behaved than the G2M? If so, maybe you do have a faulty G2M.
I'm also curious to know why does tapping the strings sometimes works way more accurately than actually playing them with a pick or fingers?
There are two reasons.

(1) It might just be you can be more accurate when tapping and you don't hit other strings, but when you pick you do.

(2) You pick the string in the "middle", whereas when you tap there is no contact with the string other than at the bridge and the fretted position. Because of this, it can vibrate more consistently when you tap, with a strong fundamental tone. Depending on picking position, you can excite, or dampen, different harmonics and this can sometimes affect the note detection. For example, "pinching" while you pick is an extreme example which lets you create so-called artificial harmonics -- it sounds like a harmonic and will be detected as such when converted to MIDI.
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