B
Beck
Guest
SMPTE is not a sycnhronization reference....it's time reference. It took me awhile to wrap my head around that when I was researching the whole sync thing....but then I got it and now understand why a sync reference is needed plus a timing reference for 100% sync every time.
Something has to act as a sync reference for both DAW and tape deck for them to be 100% locked tip to tail, sample/frame accurate, and something has to control the slave and make it chase to keep on time with the SMPTE timing reference.
SMPTE alone can't do both when the tape is master and when mechanics cause the speed/playback of the tape to fluctuate at minute levels....and so the DAW will chase/resample as slave or if not, it will drift at sample/frame level.
I run Samplitude (not a shabby DAW by any standard). It gives me the option to let the DAW chase/resample...or not.
There's a reason the options are there.
Again, do 4-5 dumps of the same click track on a 4-5 minute song from tape to DAW....and then zoom in across all the cick tracks and see what you got. If your DAW doesn't give you the choice to chase/resample or not....then it's automaticlaly set for that, and why you may not see any drift....but then your DAW is resampling on-the-fly.
It's not about any bad implementation" or anything like that....it's the nature of the mechanical transport system and physical tape.
Now, that all might be "good enough" and that's a choice everyone can make.
Oh...
I went online to check out how sync is done in Adobe Audition/CEP...and I came across this on their help forums:
Adobe Community: Do I need one midi-cable or two, in order to sync Audition with an external hardware midi-sequencer?
"What I encountered was the exact problem that you described - there was no way to get MTC or SMPTE to accurately sync the two."
From reading that....people are saying you can't do proper SMPTE/MTC sync with external hardware and AA...????
SMPTE is nothing without a device to interpret it, if that's what you mean, but SMPTE & MTC is absolutely a synchronization reference... The World Standard Synchronization reference for MIDI, in fact. There is a lot of misconception about synchronization on the web, but I've been using SMPTE since 1978, beginning in Television syncing audio to video, without issue. As SMPTE/MTC emerged with the MIDI spec I started using it with drum machines and hardware sequencers, and then DAWs... all without issue except where there was a problem with hardware or software implementation.
The link on the Adobe site is just another of thousands of conversations on the web of people trying to figure out sync that don't really understand it. Thankfully I've been using it and mastered sync before there was a web and all the confusion.
The critical software layer that controls SMPTE/MTC implementation on Echo products is in the Control Panel. The success or failure of any software like Audition or anything else depends on the Layla hardware/software implementation.
Both SMPTE and MTC have certain specifications that must be adhered to in the design of a product. If it doesn't work in a given device it is not functioning properly. In other words its broken... so when evaluating a piece of hardware or software based on that criteria you would have to give it a thumbs down for that feature... and look for something better.
My Echo Laylas would be really surprised to learn they haven't been working all these years I've been syncing then to an ATR. I mean the shock could kill them... so shhh!