Hello friends!
I’ve been working on the VCV rack for a few weeks, it’s my first post here in the forum. I’m just a beginner. Now I would like to synchronize my RD8 with VCV Rack and use RD8 as a master. I have no problems with the audio signal, it works as it should. Only I can’t get the Midi clock into the rack. Maybe someone has a tip as to what might be the cause.
Best wishes Roman
on the midi-cv I have tried all channels
Hi and welcome.
I don’t have an RD-8 but I guess you need to connect it by USB to your computer as the MIDI-CV module lists no „RD-8“ device.
Also, please note, MIDI clock does not have a channel, it is a global message.
From the looks of things, you might need to use the mode buttons on Clocked to put it in BPM Sync mode (any of the Px modes should work, where x is the number of clock pulses per quarter note); by default, Clocked is in BPM CV mode, where it accepts a CV to determine its BPM (instead of clock pulses).
I played through the different modes. The problem is, as Ben says, the RD8 is not listed in the device. I know why.
Of course I also connected the RD8 to the computer via USB. The patch is okay except that the RD8 is not listed in the device. So is it a problem with the RD8 or the computer? Correct?
Did you try restarting Rack? I noticed sometimes newly connected MIDI devices are not listed until restart. Is the RD-8 available in any other application as MIDI device?
For clock you have to set the sync mode on the RD, according to the manual( 3.1.5: https://media63.music-group.com/media/PLM/data/docs/P0DG5/RD-8_M_EN.pdf
Perhaps you have to do something else to set midi (4.3)
I just looked at your screenshot again. I think you need the CV-Midi module not the midi-CV you selected.
The way you connected it you get a clock from your Behringer audio interfaces clock to Clocked‘s BPM input. Which I don‘t think you want.
You need to connect one of the clock outs of Clocked (preferably not the main one, since you have div/mult on the lower ones) to the clock in of the CV-midi module.
He wants to sync Rack to the RD-8 and not the other way around. It is known that Rack v1‘s MIDI clock out is quite unstable so this is a valid request.
Thanks for the feedback.
I tried the same thing again on another computer and it works. I don’t know what the issue is.
But now the BPM display causes problems. The display jumps back and forth plus minus 2 BPM… any idea?
I just tried it again. I noticed that the BPM makes more or bigger jumps when the block size is higher.
in the vcv manual: " The block size sets the number of samples to store in the audio buffer before releasing to the audio device. A higher size results in more latency (blockSize / sampleRate seconds), but a lower size requires your operating system to communicate with the audio device more frequently, resulting in potentially less audio stability. A good balance can be found by increasing the block size until no audio “glitches” are heard."
I have a Core i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz with 20 GB RAM… actually thought that it was enough
looks like I need a faster computer 
Don’t worry, the MIDI implementation of Rack v1 isn’t very reliable on MIDI timing, it’s not your computer.
will it be better with v2 … either way $99 will be worth it to me
It should have improved MIDI timing. We’ll know when it arrives.
I use the CLK/N output of the MIDI-CV set to 16th, if I want to sync VCV to AUM on my Ipad. That goes directly into clock dividers & multipliers to clock the VCV-Modules. I am sure it is still not a stable clock, but that works for me and I can’t here any glitches.
Hi there & welcome!
I reproduced your scenario with my Minibrute 2s and have the same jumps in Clocked exactly as described.
I often sync the other way around - external stuff from NI Machine or Reaper and I can see similar jumps in my external sequencers bpm-display, ‚unstable clock!‘-warnings, as well. I find it quite common and most of the time I just deal with it as I find the bpm-displays concerning, but the timing not really strange from a listening point of view.
I don‘t think your computer is a weak link spec-wise. Keep in mind that midi-hardware-syncing in both directions was successfully done on Ataris 30 years ago.
You seem to be on a PC? - I read about macs that they went away from giving midi, especially over usb, a high priority, which is why I am using the midi-port on my firewire-soundcard sometimes for syncing. (To use a dedicated port with nothing else disturbing the clock might be a good idea in general.) Although this ain‘t perfect either I have smaller jumps on my sequencer‘s display using the firewire-port. Maybe this is just black magic, I haven‘t really tested and compared it.
I guess my point is: unfortunately in neither direction I experience a trustworthy stable clocking over midi ever and nevertheless I still do it all the time, and it kinda works for me. And also: I am not sure, this is a VCV-problem, only. - Not sure a version 2 will solve it completely.
Did you try other DAWs as slaves having a stable read and feel?
I have no experience doing this, but I wanted to mention it: there are ways of syncing with audio instead of midi, maybe you want to look into that.
Let us know, if you came up with a solution that works for you. Also, if you run into other problems, of course.
Cheers! dDom
The art of reading a topic title…
This will be fixed in Rack V2, until then the thing to do is to use Rack as the master clock:
Yes you´re right. I turned the whole thing around: vcv as master. The effect is the same. The less the blocksize, the more the tempo display of my RD8 weave. The problems with the clock are only eye-controlled. According to the scope or the metronome or according to my hearing, the clock seems stable.
