Midi sync several devices

[Allnightrecord]

Hi everyone, I just bought the focusrite Saffire pro 40 and running it on my mac mini, with ableton live and a midi keyboard hooked up via usb. I want to add a midi drum controller and midi rotary knob controller to my setup. However before investing I have done some research and discovered the issue of syncing midi timing and time clocks etc and the probability that there will be midi timing problems when all these midi devices are hooked up. Anyone have experience with this kind of setup and how to make the midi sync accurately?

I have heard using an external piece of midi hardware like a synth as a masterclock is a good option with the other devices in the midi chain all slaved to this. But is it not more reliable to use the pro 40's internal clock to rule over the system, since it boasts JetPLL industry-leading jitter reduction? Could the best option be to use the pro 40 as the master clock? Thus using the internal JetPLL time clock to give the time to the slaves in the system?

On top of this I’m still totally confused as to what is the best way to physically connect all my midi devices together for best performance with the pro 40…they all have midi and usb out.... USB? (I have 3 spare ports on the mac) or full din-5 midi (through a midi patchbay through the pro 40 midi in) or a midi/usb patchbay (through the mac)? Thanks for any helpful hints

 

[ashcat_lt]

Aren't these all just controllers and/or sound modules? Do any of them actually have any sequencing on them at all? If all you want to do is play some keys and twiddle some knobs and hit some drum pads and have your DAW record and play back that MIDI information, even if it is that info is meant to trigger sounds on the same modules, then you don't really need sync. Maybe, if that keyboard has some beat synced arpeggio or LFO...???

If you do have to sync them, then I would probably go ahead and let your DAW be the master timing reference and make the others slave to that.

In any case, the easiest way to connect them to the DAW is going to be to connect each via USB. This way they will each show up as a separate midi device with a full 16 midi channels to itself and you won't have to worry about setting them all to different channels and all that crap.

 

[Allnightrecord]

Yes they’re all just midi controllers...was thinking about the trigger finger pro as a live drum machine and sequencer, great reviews and price (although the recent massive drop in price is a bit concerning tbh)…but was mainly concerned about the sequencer going out of time. Heard the trigger finger pro has issues in this dept but was wondering if it is more of a general issue with bad midi clocks and bad setup. Sorry for being so vague, bit of a newbie here, learning on the job! Anyway, has anyone managed to conquer this issue of midi drum sequencers going out of time with the mix. This is not a latency issue but a clocking/midi syncing issue.
Thanks for the tip on the master timing and the usb interfacing ashcat