Post by lite on Oct 26, 2010 6:54:43 GMT -5
Latency ddrum vs. Roland vs. VST vs. Simmons
Some latency measurements. I wanted to see how the different systems compare.
I've plugged an Y-cable into the pad. One cable plugged into the drum module. The other one straight into the audio-in of the PC audio interface. So the piezo signal from the pad is recorded on one channel on the PC. On the other channel I've recorded the audio signal from the drum module.
Opening the recording in an audio editor I could see the start point of the trigger signal and the shifted start point of the triggered audio signal from the drum module. The different start points represent the overall latency from pad strike to audio out of the tested drum module.
Drum modules tested:
ddrum4
ddrum4 triggering itslf via MIDI (MIDI out wired directly to MIDI in)
Roland TD-12
Roland TD-12 triggering itself via MIDI
Roland TD-12 triggering ddrum4 via MIDI and vice versa
Simmons ADT drum-to-MIDI-converter
BFD software drums on PC with Terratec Phase X24 audio/MIDI interface
Here are the results:
No doubt the ddrum4 is fast. I've found it quite remarkable that the ddrum4 is still quiet fast over MIDI. Triggering the ddrum4 itself via MIDI does not take longer as triggering a Roland TD-12 directly without MIDI. I didn't have a ddrum3 at that time but I assume it's as fast as the ddrum4. I might check it as well.
Even the Simmons ADT is quiet fast considering it's almost 20 years old! It even samples the triggering signal envelopes to limit/exclude crosstalk of different triggering types (acoustic drums, pads, tape source, etc.). So there's still going on some smart computing while holding up the speed (still faster than present expensive modules from Roland).
Triggering drum software on a PC is still horrible. I think the weakest point is not MIDI itself (a MIDI note takes just a bit more than a millisecond to transfer – see ddrum4!) but the way modern firewire interfaces handle MIDI. A program called MIDItest shows the disaster of MIDI latency. You can check your own with the program if you're running a PC. Audio latency of the interface was running with 88 samples plus 32 samples of BFD's internal buffer. So the biggest amount is generated by the way the interface deals with incoming MIDI data. Old COM port or PCI cards are best for fast MIDI! I will try soon and compare.
I am eager to check the 2box' latency in relation to ddrum!
Some latency measurements. I wanted to see how the different systems compare.
I've plugged an Y-cable into the pad. One cable plugged into the drum module. The other one straight into the audio-in of the PC audio interface. So the piezo signal from the pad is recorded on one channel on the PC. On the other channel I've recorded the audio signal from the drum module.
Opening the recording in an audio editor I could see the start point of the trigger signal and the shifted start point of the triggered audio signal from the drum module. The different start points represent the overall latency from pad strike to audio out of the tested drum module.
Drum modules tested:
ddrum4
ddrum4 triggering itslf via MIDI (MIDI out wired directly to MIDI in)
Roland TD-12
Roland TD-12 triggering itself via MIDI
Roland TD-12 triggering ddrum4 via MIDI and vice versa
Simmons ADT drum-to-MIDI-converter
BFD software drums on PC with Terratec Phase X24 audio/MIDI interface
Here are the results:
No doubt the ddrum4 is fast. I've found it quite remarkable that the ddrum4 is still quiet fast over MIDI. Triggering the ddrum4 itself via MIDI does not take longer as triggering a Roland TD-12 directly without MIDI. I didn't have a ddrum3 at that time but I assume it's as fast as the ddrum4. I might check it as well.
Even the Simmons ADT is quiet fast considering it's almost 20 years old! It even samples the triggering signal envelopes to limit/exclude crosstalk of different triggering types (acoustic drums, pads, tape source, etc.). So there's still going on some smart computing while holding up the speed (still faster than present expensive modules from Roland).
Triggering drum software on a PC is still horrible. I think the weakest point is not MIDI itself (a MIDI note takes just a bit more than a millisecond to transfer – see ddrum4!) but the way modern firewire interfaces handle MIDI. A program called MIDItest shows the disaster of MIDI latency. You can check your own with the program if you're running a PC. Audio latency of the interface was running with 88 samples plus 32 samples of BFD's internal buffer. So the biggest amount is generated by the way the interface deals with incoming MIDI data. Old COM port or PCI cards are best for fast MIDI! I will try soon and compare.
I am eager to check the 2box' latency in relation to ddrum!