M Audio Keystation 61MK3 Connection

[John T Kares]

I just purchased the Keystation61 and have a Focusrite Scarlett Solo.  How do I properly connect the keyboard.....directly into the audio interface or into the computer.  And if the computer, would that create latency issues?

[scook]

AFAIK, there is no way to connect the controller to the Focusrite Scarlett Solo because the audio interface does not have a MIDI input.

The good news is, from a latency perspective, it does not matter whether MIDI is connected directly via USB or to an audio interface that also supports MIDI connections. Latency is strictly an audio problem.

"MIDI latency" or the time it takes between pressing a key on the keyboard and hearing sound is all about the buffering in the DAW to keep everything in sync (plug-in delay compensation) and playback buffers in the audio driver (along with a relatively tiny safety buffer in the interface hardware itself).

The time it takes for MIDI data to get from the keyboard to the DAW is nothing compared to the audio buffering necessary for monitoring audio from the DAW.

To keep "MIDI latency" low, record MIDI as early as possible during project development, avoid plug-ins requiring large lookahead buffers when recording and keep the audio driver buffer as low as possible.

 

 

[John T Kares]

scook, thanks!  Very helpful and I am obviously new to this.  A songwriter but not the technician.  Full of dumb questions and want to get the most out of the MIDI.  Are there any other recommended set up tasks using Cakewalk to take advantage of the playback?