Does your Logic/Reason drift?

[theblotted]

i'm trying to use outboard EFX (distressor, dbx160xt, etc.) with Logic. in the past with G5, i dealt it using Latency Fixer, but lately i got a new MacPro, and been trying to assess outboard routing latency, and came across this serious problem.

 

i use Reason 3.0.5 rewired into Logic for my drum/percussion sounds. Logic 7.2.3, OSX 10.4.8, RME FF800.

 

settings:

Buffer- 1024

PDC- Full

Recording Delay- none

 

try this:

-make a 8-bar kick pattern in Reason, route to Rewire Ch 3. rewire it thru Audio Inst track in Logic. start the pattern at bar 3 so you give Logic/Reason 2 bars to sync.

-highlight that track, and Export Track to Audio.

-bring the new-made kick audio back into a new Audio Track in Logic.

-flip phase on the said Audio Track.

-start playing from bar 1.

--> kick cancels out, all is good.

 

now:

--> start playing from anywhere other than bar 1. does kick cancel out for you? it doesn't for me.

--> start from bar 1. stop anywhere. then try playing again. kick cancelling? nope.

--> even if you give it 2 more bars to sync... still drift problems.

 

furthermore:

-put a plugin that causes plugin latency on the rewired Audio Inst track; something like Linear Phase EQ. tweak.

-Export Track to Audio.

-bring it back in Logic (on an Audio Track). flip phase.

--> start anywhere, including bar 1. is the new tweaked kick cancelling with the originally tweaked kick? not mine.

 

moreover, you'd think the phasey sound is consistent... but no, sometimes it's "flap, flap" then becomes "pop", later "flap, flip, flop", and then some other sounds. if consistent, i suppose i can nudge the audio; but even so it still doesn't solve why it sounds off when starting at different points of song.

 

i get the same result when using realtime bounce (then summed mono using Peak).

 

this is a serious problem because when i route my signal outboard, i can get it cancelling from bar 1 as well, but not cancel when starting anywhere else; just like Export Audio. and problem gets even worse when i do a real-world application such as adding a plugin before routing to outboard (like the example above, EQ'ing a kick before sending it out to a outboard compressor like dbx160XT).

 

my guess is that Rewire is causing the drift: because if i make the same kick again, put it on a different Audio Track, and only compare the Audio Tracks (no Reason) they'll cancel out no matter where i start playing.

 

latency fixer helps if it's a consistent time-issue... but it's not, Logic/Reason's drifting badly.

 

sorry for long post. please advise. help desperately needed.

[editbrain]

do you have your cpu set to live mode?

[theblotted]

i tried both live mode and playback mode. the drift happens with both.

 

interestingly, if you export @ live mode, when starting at bar 1 using playback mode will cancel a few kicks out, but not all of them. same vice versa. but when you start from anywhere other than bar 1, it's completely off again.

 

depending on which mode, the kick will land in different places. not good.

[theblotted]

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