craig Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Hi. Anyone successfully sunc cakewalk to a beatstep pro??? I want the beatstep to be the master and Cakewalk the slave. I did find a post on the artturia forum but the settings did not work for me. Cakewalk responds and starts playing but immediately goes out of sync. Cheers Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synkrotron Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Hi Craig, Beatstep Pro user here. I did briefly try using my Beatstep Pro as the master but I prefer making Cakewalk my master and driving my setup that way. So I can't really help you. Sorry. Can I ask, what "settings" are you referring to? cheers andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synkrotron Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 (edited) Hi again Craig, I opened my Cakewalk test and setup project and set it up so that the BSP was the master and Cakewalk was the slave. My Cakewalk tempo is set to 80BPM and I had also set the BSP tempo at 80BPM. When I played the project everything stayed in sync and the project is over five minutes long. That includes MIDI sent to hardware, MIDI sent to VSTi and the CV/Gate sequences sent to the modular synth. I then tried setting the BSP to 90BPM and when I started the project I expected the Cakewalk tempo to match the BSP tempo. But it didn't and the BSP played at 90BPM while the Cakewalk carried on at 80BPM. I checked the settings of my Beatstep Pro and there are no settings for MIDI sync as such. I managed to find some old SONAR X3 documentation on how to set up SONAR as the slave, and I made sure I followed the instructions, but it didn't help:- https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR X3&language=3&help=Synchronizing.05.html I also found a discussion on the old Cakewalk forums but there was no help in there, really, just posts echoing the documentation while the original poster still had issues. I read the topic right to the end and the "issue" still wasn't fixed:- http://forum.cakewalk.com/Syncing-Sonar-tempo-to-match-external-MIDI-clock-m2976288.aspx Perhaps @Noel Borthwick could help with this? Sorry Noel... Clutching at straws here... I could ask others to help, who were involved in the discussion on the old Cakewalk forum but, in the main, they were saying that the software is functioning correctly. cheers andy Edited February 13, 2019 by synkrotron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synkrotron Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Hi again @craig I tried synchronising my Beatstep Pro, as the Master, with REAPER this morning. It REAPER didn't even register the incoming MIDI Time Code and therefore didn't start. I posted about it in the REAPER forum and the one reply so far stated the it is a known fact that REAPER doesn't work well as a slave. So that was a waste of time. I have also posted a question in the Arturia forum about this. No response as yet. Is it essential for you to have the BSP as the master? You could try setting the tempo on the BSP to equal the Cakewalk project tempo but it may drift out over time. cheers andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 Hi all. Thanks for the responses..... Some really great info there..... brilliant! The settings I mentioned were the timing settings in BSP midi control centre and in cakewalk midi sync. https://forum.arturia.com/index.php?topic=92250.0 Initially I was hellbent on BSP being the master as I like to use it with my collection mini synths etc before even turning a computer on. I am having trouble with midi thru on the BSP which is causing other complications and essentially meant I would need two different configurations depending on whether I was running a computer or not. As a workaround I ended up having to output midi from my DAW via my launchpad pro. I am essentially trying to have a DAW free setup which I can seamlessly integrate with a DAW when needed/fancied. However I have had a real breakthrough with studio one as the master. I must say am really impressed with the latency on Studio One and I am leaning towards a studio one purchase. However I am not supposed to be spending money at the moment and I would very much like to support Cakewalk so will try and replicate my success in Cakewalk before I give the credit card an unexpected bashing. I am now much more relaxed about using my BSP in slave mode. I realised the main issue was not being able to use the transport buttons, so long as I can configure those beauties to work properly I'm super happy. I have to say for me at least Studio one seems so modern and easy on the eye & brain compared to other DAWS including Cakewalk. Dont get me wrong I like the look and feel of Cakewalk & I am really interested to see what Cakewalk do to modernise in the future. My aim is to make a decision that I will stick to and never look back from by the end of the week. Haha. Thanks all Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synkrotron Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Studio One does not have an event list view and does not support system exclusive messages. Just bare that in mind before purchasing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 Thanks.... If I am honest I am not really sure what that is or how it will affect me?? I reckon I am now confident I can get Cakewalk working as well as S1. The decider will be latency. S1 recorded both midi and audio absolutely perfectly, I did not have to stop and adjust anything. Absolutely not what I have been used to on Ableton using exact same hardware. (Soundcraft notepad 12FX and Thinkpad T460 16gb) If I get the same results with Cakewalk I will be sure to stick with it. Do you have transport buttons working properly on you BSP Cakewalk setup?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synkrotron Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Hi Craig, 2 hours ago, craig said: Thanks.... If I am honest I am not really sure what that is or how it will affect me?? I suppose it will only really affect you if you want to delve a bit deeper into what MIDI information is going out to your gear. If you are mainly using your BSP to play your hardware then you will be okay. I already have Studio One and I have had to ditch it because one of my hardware synths, for some reason unknown to me, only change patches/banks via a combination of CC and SYSEX messages and I have to enter those as events in the Event List view. 2 hours ago, craig said: Do you have transport buttons working properly on you BSP Cakewalk setup?? I only use my BSP as the slave in my setup, so I don't really need to use the buttons on the BSP. I press play in my DAW and the BSP also starts playing. I also do not use any MIDI out from my BSP as I only use it to sequence my modular system using CV/Gate connections. And I do not connect my BSP to my computer via the USB C connection and prefer to use the MIDI input in order to synchronise it to my DAW. I did try using the USB C connection but a strange high pitch whine, not that loud, but enough to be an issue, came from my system, so I ditched that idea and went back to the BSP MIDI input. cheers andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 Hi Cheers Andy. I do have a volca FM which uses sysex I think. I havnt tried it yet tho. Will this effect me?? Plus I think one of my drum machines might use something like that too. Like I said I am going to definitely give cakewalk a real good go. Thanks for your help Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synkrotron Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Hi Craig, 1 hour ago, craig said: Will this effect me? I would think that you could get away with it. Back when I had an all MIDI setup, around 2000's, I used SYSEX messages to a couple of keyboards in order to turn things like "Local" to "off" and other general setup options. I doubt you will be doing the same with your stuff. Correct me if I am wrong, but I am guessing that you will select any presets on your gear before hand and then use the Beatstep just for sequencer duties. You could still connect your gear to your DAW via MIDI and sent patch/bank changes via track properties, which can be edited via "Inspector" view, which both Cakewalk and Studio One have. 1 hour ago, craig said: Like I said I am going to definitely give cakewalk a real good go. Yes, it is a good DAW and I have been using it, in one form or another for many years. I am having a bit of trouble with it at the moment but some of that could be down to me, so I am jumping between Cakewalk and REAPER at the moment. Still not fully made my own mind up. 2 hours ago, craig said: Thanks for your help Not a problem. No one else has jumped in here more than likely because they do not have a Beatstep Pro. This is, and always has been a very helpful community. Any other problems, just give us a shout, either in here or in a new topic. And let me know how you get on. I should be hanging around these parts a while longer cheers andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 Hi Andy. Tried a load of audio and midi syncing tests today with my novation circuit and old drum machine. Took me ages to get a decent midi sync and when I pressed record the audio was way out. I tried in S1 and it just worked without any tweaking whatsoever. I will try again tomorrow but I am sad to say I am once again leaning heavily towards s1 as my main DAW. You mentioned you dont use S1 any more. Do you want to sell/transfer your licence?? I do plan to use CW on surround sound projects we have coming up in a month or two. Bests Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synkrotron Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 6 hours ago, craig said: Do you want to sell/transfer your licence?? Good question, but I think I would be reluctant to let go of it. I'm currently leaning more towards REAPER right now... I'm sure it was just me but I, too, have problems trying to get my hardware and software working together using Cakewalk. There is only so much time you can spend on that process... cheers andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 Indeed. A real shame. It's these fundamental basics that make people move on. If Bandlab want to make a go of this thing I reckon sorting out this kind of thing should be their priority. Am I right in thinking latency delay compensation cant be adjusted live and we have to stop playback to adjust it, that is very old fashioned. I've not really tried Reaper properly yet, if I cant get good sync by the end of the afternoon I think I am definitely going with S1. There are some amazing deals on inta audio (UK), I never used them or even heard of them before a couple of days ago but reviews seem good. Their studio one prices are suspiciously way lower than anywhere else but all seems legit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synkrotron Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 3 hours ago, craig said: It's these fundamental basics that make people move on. I guess so, although it's been a while since I have played with Cakewalk. And by "a while," I mean four or five days. My brain ain't what it used to be and I often forget what I was doing yesterday. So I can't truly judge Cakewalk without going back over what I was doing. May have been something I was doing wrong. I had already misunderstood how to correctly set up External Insert, which was causing me some strange latency issues. Trouble is, I was on a roll with REAPER before trying Cakewalk and so it is kind of easier, and very lazy of me to fall back on that again. I was pointed to Inta Audio last week by a well respected member of these forums, with respect to building a new workstation, so I would say that they are all above board. I see they are offering Studio One Pro 4 for £299 compared to PreSonus £344, so, yeah, good deal that. Strange thing is, it seems to be linked to a "Black Friday" deal so may be that when you try to check out it will revert to the previous price... Let me know how you get on, and good luck cheers andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 They are doing pro for £229 on its own, £235 with an Atom. or 239 with an interface... pretty amazing. Thats cheaper than an upgrade from artist to pro. Since writing the two lines above I called inta to see if they could do a package with the faderport instead of atom (Figured I own enough pad controllers).. they are getting back to me on that. Thought I'd try Cakewalk one more time and you will never guess what I have perfect sync for the first time. If I can configure the transport on BSP I think I'll give it a go for a bit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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