The Midronome, a new MIDI Master Clock, is now available via a Kickstarter project, which has blown past its funding goal with 28 days left to go.
Midronome is designed to make it easy to set and sync tempo across MIDI gear, including synths, sequencers, drum machines, digital audio workstations and effects pedals. It also has two CV/Analog outputs for modular gear, which can be used as a DIN (sync24) clock output for vintage gear.
The first Midronome Kickstarter, launched earlier this year, failed to meet its funding goal. Since then, the developer has continued to develop the device and add features.
Here’s what’s new since the original Kickstarter project:
- MIDI Clock over USB
- Firmware upgrades over USB
- Tons of future features coming post-shipping (clock shifting, tempo presets, nudging, etc.)
- An open module interface
“The big one is the future-proofness of the device,” says Midronome founder Simon Lasnier, “with an upgradable firmware and an open module interface, which in my opinion is an amazing addition to the device.”
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 project backers for about $145 USD.
Note that crowdfunded projects can involve risk, which is documented as part of the project.
All the marketing jargon makes me question its claims. 50,000 times more accurate, all the gold seals on he kickstarter page, facebook comments from people who havent used the product. It’s a lotta fluff and as the saying goes “good stuff dont need no fluff”. -me If it works as intended, ill be buying it for sure.
the marketing does seems over the top but it’s crowd founding so its understandable.,it did worked, so just wait, i always do, you don’t need “saying” when you have facts 🙂
since it’s an audio driven device 50,000 times more accurate just means “sample accurate” (at about 48khz) compered to say 0.5/1ms jitter typical midi interfaces jitter. i guess you can also do 200,000 times more at 192kHz.
it will not be the first one, inner-clock systems, er-m and expert sleepers all provide that but cost more and maybe more complex to set up. i use expert sleepers, for all midi. it is the only solution i know that can also provide sample accurate notes, cc and midi clock. its not easy to deal with but works fine.
Hey gadi, the jitter is much lower when using the device as a master. When slaving to the DAW (with what I call “DAW Sync”, which uses an audio sync signal), then yes it is “sample accurate”, i.e. the jitter depends on your worldclock/sampleclock.
Simon
thank you simon.
if i remember correctly from innerclock litmus test most instruments have their own jitter, at least one sample (or more) so in practicality if you measure the “audio output jitter” with “daw sync” or as a master it should be at least one sample? about the same?
Well I basically just measure the actual MIDI output directly, with a signal analyzer. And yes youøre right the receiving devices have their own jitter/latency, but this is out of the Midronome’s control 🙂 It just sends the best jitter-free clock it can, what the devices do with that is hard to tell since it will be different from one device to another.
But in practice it does help overall (makes sense – the receiving devices probably prefer a steady clock generally). I remember hearing about it from the testers who often had drifting issues and similar before the Midronome, issues which all disappeared simply by changing the master clock.
And as for the “sample accurate” wording, that comes from the fact that the audio sync signal sent by the DAW is as precise as the sample clock (worldclock), and the MIDI Clock as precise as this audio sync signal.
The Midronome basically takes that signal and transforms it instantly into the MIDI Clock it outputs, also without any software involved. So the transition audio -> clock definitely does not add any jitter or latency (other than the electrical signals characteristics like slopes and voltage level detection… But that’s starting to be way too technical 😛 ).
Simon
Hey Randy – sorry about that. I removed most of the marketing stuff, you guys made it clear you did not like it on the first campaign. The 50000 has been measured and explained though, there is a detailed Youtube video about it: https://youtu.be/zGU336yKyEM
And yes there are the comments from people who have not used the device, but right above a video of people who *have* used the device, have you seen it?
Cheers
Simon
Yeah, I was using the ES-8 for my modular and got good results. I’m currently having issues with tight sync between bitwig and practically everything I run a clock out through MIDI Din. Its that old tale so if this is a solution, im on it 100%.
if you already have the es-8 the es-5 will cost you about the same but with 8 separate midi outputs
I signed on for the first round, and definitely signed on for the second round, which is even more robust. Very excited. I’ll choose to believe that Simon can deliver.
I have a USAMO. It’s a finnicky b^*$h to set up, and sometimes loses sync because, no matter how many hours I spend, I can’t get it tuned perfectly. I don’t need to send music notes – only clock (which is all I use it for).
you do understand this product is also based on receiving audio from your audio interface?
you may have the same issue. the usamo works fine and its stable, i rarely think about it, it just work. you must have an issue on your system or your specific device. contact es.
The big difference is that the USAMO sends all MIDI data, while the Midronome (and the multiclock) only send the MIDI clock. Because of that the audio signal is a LOT simpler, and therefore way wasier to setup + more stable.
Simon
I don’t want future updates. I want a finished product. Getting real tired of being a beta tester for half-baked ideas..
maybe some of the problem is in the adverting that promised thing that are not yet ready but i think the issue is mostly with the buyers who must buy the newest they can’t wait to fulfil their satisfaction and then complain they need to wait to something “promised” to them. its a juvenile behaviour but than again most of people complaint here can be explained by “juvenile behaviour” 🙂 some brands just know they need to treat costumers like delicate spoiled kids and it works fine for them, but than again kids will complain even if the parents could do a “perfect job”. if you buy something based on feature not yet exist its on you.
if it’s “beta testing for new bonus features” i don’t see nothing wrong with that, its actually exciting, surprising and a good sign for a company that support and stand behind their products. i made at least a dozen tracks that started with testing new features after firmware update but i didn’t get the feeling of beta testing, all worked as it should and i didn’t get elektron because of overbridge or the bitwig because of the grid…
For a little more money, you can get The Missing Link (https://circuithappy.com/products/themissinglink/), which includes sync with Ableton Link (which is used by many iOS apps for syncing). Of course, they are having supply chain problems, so it might take a while to get it. I have one, and it has super-useful for syncing all my gear together.
as far as i know the missing link is not about preciseness.