Midronome MIDI Master Clock Launches On Kickstarter

Danish startup Midronome has launched a Kickstarter to fund production of the Midronome, a MIDI Master Clock, that they say makes it effortless to set and sync tempo across MIDI gear like synths, sequencers, drum machines, Ableton Live and effects pedals.

Live, it can be used to sync acoustic musicians, as well, with its built-in metronome in time.

And, in the studio, it lets you sync your DAW and your outboard gear together. It has two CV/Analog outputs for modular gear, whic can also be used as a DIN (sync24) clock output for vintage gear.

Features:

  • Keep all of your MIDI devices in sync, with the power of “the most precise MIDI clock on the market”
  • 50,000 times more accurate than a computer-based clock
  • 1000 times more accurate than most synth-based clocks
  • Keep your band in tempo with the metronome click – and if you don’t like the classic beep sound, you can choose from the selection of 60 different clicks sounds
  • 9 volume levels
  • If you need to know where the beat is, the Midronome will show it to you with an LED next to its display. Green for the first beat in the bar, red for others.
  • All settings are saved automatically, and the current tempo is saved every 10 seconds.

Pricing and Availability

Midronome production is being funded via a Kickstarter project, and is available to backers for 149€, or about $160 USD with shipping.

Note that crowdfunded projects can involve risk, which is documented as part of the project.

28 thoughts on “Midronome MIDI Master Clock Launches On Kickstarter”

    1. Seems they use the word “revolutionize” too much on kick starters but it does seems like a good price for what it is. The numbers seems exaggerated compered to slimier solutions, I guess they compered it to a regular usbomidi clock with 0.5ms jitter? not an E-RM/Innerclock but they cost much more and have there own issues.
      For my use i will still prefer the expert sleepers solutions since its the only one that provides sample accurate midi notes (and DIN-SYNC/CV/Gate) and i don’t care much about dawless jamming but i guess an Audio to midi clock (like the old Redsound beat-extractor) could be awesome for this case use (maybe with a built in mic?) but I’m anyway happy to see the more solutions focusing on midi jitter and wish Midronome good luck on your campaign 🙂

  4. Seems they use the word “revolutionize” too much on kick starters but it does seems like a good price for what it is. The numbers seems exaggerated compered to slimier solutions, I guess they compered it to a regular usbomidi clock with 0.5ms jitter? not an E-RM/Innerclock but they cost much more and have there own issues.
    For my use i will still prefer the expert sleepers solutions since its the only one that provides sample accurate midi notes (and DIN-SYNC/CV/Gate) and i don’t care much about dawless jamming but i guess an Audio to midi clock (like the old Redsound beat-extractor) could be awesome for this case use (maybe with a built in mic?) but I’m anyway happy to see the more solutions focusing on midi jitter and wish Midronome good luck on your campaign 🙂

    1. Midronome provides sample accurate clock from the DAW, not MIDI notes. I look forward to replacing my USAMO if this launches (I put my order in). It can also be using newer tech than the others that could be tighter, plus, since it isn’t concerned about notes but just clock, that may also allow it to be tighter. I’m sure you could ask Simon.

      1. If it’s sample accurate it means its one second divided by at least 44,100 or 0.0225ms, So very steady, from there it will depends on your audio interface sample rate and maybe even the internal clock jitter but your instrument midi inputs will probably have much greater jitter receiving midi clock anyway.

        I currently sequencing everything from the computer including sending notes, cc, MIDI clock and Din-sync but I use multiple ports trying to avoid the MIDI serial protocol limitation so i need much more complex way to control all that.

  5. the band didn’t look happy before the Midronome, they looked very happy after the Midronome, if it has this happiness capability i’m sold. 😉 looks great though.

  6. What I don’t get is why my Arturia Drumbrute clock or any other drum or midi sequencing device like digitakt, Roland Boutiques is not able to sync things properly with ableton/ in the box midi as well.

    The follow option on ABleton is nice recently but it still drifts to much for reliable clock or recording in one take.

    1. As I understand it, the issue is less with the DAW and more with the OS. Ableton has latency correction, but even with that feature dialed in, you still can’t reliably sync external gear to your DAW clock. (Ricky Tinez has a few videos dedicated to this issue.) The best solution I’ve found is the ERM Multiclock, but it’s pricey and has features that some users may not need. If I didn’t already own one, I would totally buy a Midronome.

      1. Its not because of latency, its about jitter from the DAW, OS and midi interface that “swing” the clock forward and backward, this cannot be fix by the DAW or OS.
        But If you only need sample accurate midi from the computer (not a stand alone clock and a metronome…) there is the Expert sleepers USAMO that also based on a audio plug-in and a little cheaper than this one, it can also do sample accurate midi notes, cc and sysex this one can’t.

        1. I have a USAMO, and want to replace it with this device, because I don’t need notes and the USAMO is a pain in the rear to tune (and I can’t get it to fully pass the self-test no matter how many hours I waste trying). Also, if this ships, I’ll have it for about $50 less than I paid for the USAMO.

          1. Yes shipping this one seems relatively cheep.
            This one is also based on sending audio from a plug in through your audio interface audio output and to the unit. I guess sending audio to the usb would make it easyer to use but much more complex to manufacture and higher price.
            Did you tried to ask es? he is very helpful and knowledgeable but from what i know you tune it once, save and if it’s works it works, passing the test will not make it better. I don’t have experience with the USAMO, I use the eurorack version with ADAT so it’s just works “out of the box”

  8. I’d like the manufacturer to tell us exactly how they derived the numbers they’re reporting. How is this unit 50,000 times more accurate than a “computer based clock?” What, exactly, do they mean by “computer based clock?” In the video, I see a little black metal box with LED display that most likely contains a microcontroller. What makes it better than other similar clock sources?

    1. Since the device is sample accurate to the audio the resolutions is 48,000-96,000
      I guess they compering it to a typical 0.5-1ms of usb midi interfaces.

      1. Hi gadi, frodo.

        You can use the Midronome as a master clock, in this case the device generates its own clock, and this clock has a +/-5ns jitter (or actually probably less – but my that was the best I could measure with the precision of my measuring equipment!).

        You can also use the Midronome has a slave clock, following the audio sync signal generated by our DAW plugin, available as VST/AU/AAX. Or you can save that audio in a WAV file and play it with whatever suits you.
        In this case the Midronome’s clock is generated from that audio sync signal, and can only be as precise as the signal is – i.e. sample rate precision. Sample rate precision is not amazing, but still SO much better than computer-generated MIDI Clock, and still tight enough that you will not hear any issues. If you want more precise, well increase the sample rate to 192kHz 😀

        Here you’ll find a graph showing the measurements I made from the Midronome’s clock (as a master) and from a MIDI Clock generated by a Focusrite Scarlett: https://www.midronome.com/faq.html?i220=1#i220

        I hope that clarifies some things – otherwise please ask 🙂

        Cheers
        /Simon

  9. this is actually really cool – what I actually like about it is that it has an in that can connect a drum pad and/or foot pedal which seems like it could be super useful when I do live improvisational sets with a friend of mine that is a drummer

    1. It was indeed designed for Live in the first place – I personally think it’s a real killer for Live usage!!
      (but yea my opinion is a bit biased… 😛 )
      /Simon

  13. Hi 🙂 Simon from Midronome here.

    I’ll try to answer all your comments here.

    @JD:
    The Midronome was never designed to be a cheap replacement of the Midiclock, or even of the Multiclock.
    Even compared to the Multiclock, the Midronome has:
    * a metronome
    * pedal control
    * drum pad option
    * much bigger display
    * a large knob
    * it is designed for Live usage
    * it will sync to the time signature of your DAW
    * it has extremely low-jitter (when used as master)
    It’s also three times cheaper than the Multiclock, even without considering the 13% off on Kickstarter.
    If you need more outputs, you can link 2 or more Midronomes together very easily.

    @gadi: sorry about the revolutionize – you’re right it’s maybe pushing a bit 🙂 But we do not use it anywhere on our KS page, and only once in the video though? 🙂
    The jitter was properly measured and compared with the MIDI Clock generated by my setup with StudioOne and Focusrite Scarlett, so no that number does not come out of nowhere 😀
    See here: https://www.midronome.com/faq.html?i220=1#i220

    And compared to the USAMO the setup of the Midronome is much, much easier. Many of our current backers have decided to give it a chance, just because they struggled setting up their USAMO. But you’re correct, the Midronome does not send MIDI notes, only clock.

    As for the audio to MIDI clock – there is a chance, see here: https://forum.midronome.com/viewtopic.php?t=56

    @Bas: DAW’s are meant to output audio and not MIDI Clock, so they are just not very good at it. Therefore the Midronome uses audio to sync to a DAW. But Ableton can slave to MIDI Clock (unlike other DAWs), and from what I have tested that works really really well. So in your case I would say very confidently the Midronome will solve your issues.

    @frodo: see my answer to gadi right above, but also check out https://www.midronome.com/faq.html?i210=1#i210 which explains why the Midronome’s MIDI Clock is so precise compared to other devices. And a computer-generated clock, well obviously that’s like the worst ever. Just imagine that a computer’s CPU has SO much stuff to do – move your mouse, speak to the WiFi chip, check for messages on the USB port, display the screen, etc etc. A hardware device is very “focused”, so even though it is not as powerful it will always be much more precise because it has a lot less things to do.

    I hope that helps, folks – feel free to ask anything else! And please back the campaign and spread the word if you like the device and want it to be a reality one day!

    Cheers
    /Simon

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