DP24 midi clock latency

[IWHBYD]

Got a DP24 last week, I wanted to use it for multitrack midi synced recording but am finding that it is useless in this regard, the reason is that the midi clock is often sent some milliseconds after recording starts, I have tried a few different cards and different midi devices and it seems that the DP24 is the culprit. The firmware version on my DP24 is v1.13 - is there any later version that fixes this bug?

So the problem means that if I want to record multiple synced midi tracks, in this case from a drum machine, the tracks are out of alignment with eachother. To make matters worse the DP24 will not allow the small segment of dead space to be trimmed from the beginning of the track as the "I/O too short" error appears.

Hoping for a solution or I will have to return it

 

[cda]

You have the latest firmware. Oddly, the latest version on the Tascam download page for the DP-24 is listed as 1.12.

I do not have a DP-24, but do what you describe all the time on the 2488 Neo. However, I have to start at the beginning of the song each time I record a part from a synced sequencer or drum machine to avoid timing errors. Also, I put a blank bar at the start of the song to give things time to sync up.

It would be interesting to hear if you solve this problem. I have been thinking of getting a DP-24 for a long time, but hearing about things like this puts me off. In fact, not being able to sync correctly would render the machine useless to me.

Good luck.

 

[IWHBYD]

I'm half tempted to try an earlier firmware, but since v1.13 does not seem to be available to download I do not want to risk it. The midi clock tempo is also erratic for the first bar or so, like it takes a little while to stabilise. It is a real shame as it is a nice machine aside from this bug, I wonder if the DP32 has the same problem, it looks like that has not had as many firmware revisions.

I have emailed Tascam but no reply yet, I have narrowed the problem down to midi clock start command being sent late, by having the slave device respond to transport but not clock and setting the slave tempo to the same as the DP24, I observed that sometimes the delay can be as much as 5ms, sometimes 1 or 2ms, sometimes less than 1ms (acceptable).

If anyone from Tascam is reading this then please look into this problem, possible solutions would be to enable the DP24 to slave to midi clock, or enable the DP24 to respond to midi transport control, or fix the bug that causes the random start delay and erratic clock speed.

Also allowing smaller IN/OUT editing would be a bonus, then at least the dead space at the start of a file can be cut.

 

[IWHBYD]

Ok, well Tascam support were no help at all, after explaining the problem as above, I was told "The DP24 does not slave to MTC, it can only be master" which is not even remotely what I was asking. I then explained the problem again, and after 4 days no further reply, not good. So I returned the DP24 for a refund.

So in summary, if you are thinking of buyng a DP24 and ACCURATE MIDI clock sync is important, then don't bother.

 

[cda]

Thanks for taking the time to post an update. That's pretty much my experience of Tascam support too.

It's a shame you couldn't get the issue resolved.