How many synth's on MIDI thru?

Dennis Lacheney

unread,

Mar 3, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/3/97

to

How many synths can you daisy chain via midi thtu before losing timing
between them? Does the daisy chaining even cause any delay between
synths?
Please respond via e-mail

-Dennis

MIDIGOD

unread,

Mar 4, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/4/97

to

Daisy-chaining will eventually result in delays, but it's a result of each
synth's internal architecture, NOT the MIDI chain itself. So, it's hard
to say. Some synths will have noticeable delay when playing several
notes, even if they're first in the chain! I've run up to ten synths with
no noticeable delay, but you have to be careful which ones you use in a
case like that.

But keep in mind that the MIDI repeater is SUPPOSED to come BEFORE any
synth circuitry, so theoretically, there won't be any noticeable delay
until you reach a couple hundred synths. (Each repeater will delay about
7 microseconds.) I've noticed, however, that this isn't always the way
they're put together - you'll just have to experiment.

At any rate, any delays you experience will likely be caused by the
synth's internal voice engine delaying, rather than the MIDI chain.

You can also offset (delay) tracks of the ones at the beginning of the
chain to offset any delays you experience (or think you experience ;-)).

-Craig
-----------------------------------------------------------
Craig Patterson is resonsible for all credit or blame regarding this message.
Vist PME Studios web site at http://members.aol.com/midigod

Herbert Janssen

unread,

Mar 4, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/4/97

to

In principle MIDI thru chains do not cause delays, in the real world
it depends:
MIDI thru is - according to the MIDI standard - a simple electronical
thru circuit which causes no significant delay.
Some synths and especially FX boxes implement no real MIDI thru but just
a "soft" thru. This is done via the synths processor and causes a
delay - depending on the particular synth of course.
Usually those synths with soft thru also offer switchable MIDI out/thru
connectors, so look for these and avoid them.

The only limitation in the number of synths linkable via a thru-chain
is the quality of the digital MIDI signal which degrades with cable length
and number of thru connections. A handful of synths will cause no headaches
under any reasonable conditions.

mid...@aol.com (MIDIGOD) writes:
> Daisy-chaining will eventually result in delays, but it's a result of each
> synth's internal architecture, NOT the MIDI chain itself. So, it's hard
> to say. Some synths will have noticeable delay when playing several
> notes, even if they're first in the chain! I've run up to ten synths with
> no noticeable delay, but you have to be careful which ones you use in a
> case like that.

The delay of the sound engine of synths wasn't asked for and is of course
*not* dependent on the position in the chain.

> But keep in mind that the MIDI repeater is SUPPOSED to come BEFORE any
> synth circuitry, so theoretically, there won't be any noticeable delay
> until you reach a couple hundred synths. (Each repeater will delay about
> 7 microseconds.) I've noticed, however, that this isn't always the way
> they're put together - you'll just have to experiment.

There is no "MIDI repeater" in most synths and the MIDI spec doesn't even
mention anything like that.

> At any rate, any delays you experience will likely be caused by the
> synth's internal voice engine delaying, rather than the MIDI chain.

Sure, because there is no such thru delay.

> You can also offset (delay) tracks of the ones at the beginning of the
> chain to offset any delays you experience (or think you experience ;-)).
>
> -Craig
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> Craig Patterson is resonsible for all credit or blame regarding this message.
> Vist PME Studios web site at http://members.aol.com/midigod

So OK, you are babbling about things you don't have a clue about.
Nevertheless you call yourself MIDIGOD - what's new...

But you *authored* a book about MIDI???

I'm tempted to use profane language

ciao
Herbert

_______________________________________________________________________

Herbert Janssen he...@neuroinformatik.ruhr-uni-bochum.de
_______________________________________________________________________

Haldane S. Henry

unread,

Mar 5, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/5/97

to

On Mon, 3 Mar 1997, Dennis Lacheney wrote:

> How many synths can you daisy chain via midi thtu before losing timing
> between them? Does the daisy chaining even cause any delay between
> synths?
> Please respond via e-mail
>

> -Dennis

I don't think there is a limit to this and daisy chaining does not cause
any noticable delays between synths. I think the thing to worry about is
the length of the midi cables. If I remember correctly, the maximum
length is something like 30 feet??? between devices.

--
Haldane S. Henry
hsh...@vais.net

Jessie +Steve

unread,

Mar 7, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/7/97

to

Actually some people, myself included, have noticed that MIDI Slop can
be minimized by using the MIDI outs instead of the Thru's. Maybe the
extra opto-isolaters cause problems? Don't know but it worked on my
setup of 6 different modules.

Steve

Eyal R.

unread,

Mar 9, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/9/97

to

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_01BC2CCA.8C4CF180
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

you can connect about 3 or 4 synths. for an easy solution look for
my message: build a midi expander.

Eyal R.

Dennis Lacheney <lach...@erols.com> wrote in article
<331B84...@erols.com>...

> How many synths can you daisy chain via midi thtu before losing timing
> between them? Does the daisy chaining even cause any delay between
> synths?
> Please respond via e-mail
>
> -Dennis
>

------=_NextPart_000_01BC2CCA.8C4CF180
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<html><head></head><BODY bgcolor=3D"#FFFFFF">you can connect about 3 or 4 synths. =
 for an easy solution look for my message: build a midi =
expander. Eyal R. Dennis Lacheney <lach...@erols.com> =
wrote in article <331B84...@erols.com>... > How many synths can you daisy chain =
via midi thtu before losing timing > between them? Does the daisy =
chaining even cause any delay between > synths? > Please =
respond via e-mail > > -Dennis > 
</body></html>
------=_NextPart_000_01BC2CCA.8C4CF180--

Joe Fanelli

unread,

Mar 9, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/9/97

to

Using a Thru box as opposed to MIDI thru is a much better idea in terms of
redundancy, if nothing else. 1 bad cable, connection, or module failure
wil eliminate the sound from every module following it. Totally
unacceptable live, and waste of $$ in the studio. Digital Music makes ( or
made) the MX-8, which was a 6in 8 out thru/ merge and processor with an all
notes off panic button, that has saved my butt many times when I used an
Ensoniq VFX-SD ( the Crashmaster) as a controller. BTW, max. MIDI cable is
15meters ( about 45 ft) by the MIDI spec, but you can go quite a bit more
w/ really good cables.
--

insert clever saying here...
Joe Fanelli
Fanelli Sound & Lights

Jessie +Steve <plas...@ibm.net> wrote in article
<332039ac...@news-s01.ny.us.ibm.net>...