Latency on karma arpeggiator?

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maltheross
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 8:41 pm

Latency on karma arpeggiator?

Post by maltheross »

Hey guys

I'm layering a arp sound on top of a tremolo (square LFO) sound - they're both syncing to the kronos tempo (both are key sync'ed) and both playing straight 16th notes. Though they are supposed to be playing exactly the same rhythm, the arp seems to be about 20-25 ms behind the tremolo synth. The result is a patch that is not grooving at all. I can feel the difference in latency quite clearly when I turn karma on/off on the arp program.

Anybody else had a similar experience? And does someone
maybe have a solution? (still very new to the karma engine) I would like to avoid compensating for the latency by delaying the tremolo synth, because that doesn't feel right to play.

Hope theres a savior out there!! thanks in advance!
19naia
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Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:05 pm

Post by 19naia »

Is the Tremolo synth an external synth engine or from one of Kronos internal synth engines?
Internal Kronos sounds are easy to solve but cases of synths like on my iPad synced with kronos, the Korg M1 app that should work perfectly with Korg Kronos, it sometimes has latecy issues that come and go depending on reinserting the usb connection or reloading the iPad Korg M1 app.

An internal sound engine program on Kronos could need some adjustments in the FX page most likey especially with a name like “tremolo”. You can have LFO giving tremolo type qualities in the synth engine and also have the FX page doing tremolo work and that means the FX page would need to have its parameters checked for sync.
Any of the Kronos FX pages have a lot of parameters and they can range from LFO to midi channel settings and more.

Also if LFO is doing the work, it could be LFO that is off alignment.
Simply setting LFO frequency to midi/tempo sync, may not be enough to align perfectly because LFO can be deliberately wobble/offset from exact beat, and offset in more ways than one. Start phase setting shifts the phase relative to time position that is defined by midi/temoo sync. And then “Shape” setting can enhance a wobble effect from LFO.

There could be other reasons within Karma but not easy for me to speculate on the complexities karma has to offer.

Main thing to get started is to identify where your “tremolo synth” is based -on kronos or outside of Kronos (internal synth engine or external synth engine).
Or is it a computer app or hardware synth?

I would play around with the LFO settings first to see if the LFO parameters have set up a wobble or offset around the midi/tempo marks.
Then look to see if any tremolo fx pages are involved. The easiest two in the run of process of elimination.
Gunnar
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Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 7:17 am
Location: Norway

Post by Gunnar »

Very good and comprehensive reply there from 19naia :)

In addition to that, isn't there also KARMA Quantization to take into account. If you LFO/tremolo is currently working as expected and KARMA is the one that is off, perhaps you're having the KARMA engine quantize to a slightly off-beat sync and then stick to that. I know I've had this happen to me a number of times. You could also try experimenting with the quantize options under the "KARMA" -> "Trigger" tab (in all of COMBI / PROG / SEQ modes) and you find the Quantize options in the "Control" section at the top.
Gear: Korg Kronos 2 73, Arturia Microbrute & MiniBrute 2, Moog Mother-32, Ibanez RG320DXFM Guitar, ESP Viper 254FM Bass, Blackstar HT-1
Software: Reaper, EZ Drummer
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