Trouble with MIDI drumkit

[The Finkie]

Hello.

I have just purchased an electric drum kit to use as MIDI input for a DAW. LMMS is looking like the best option for me, but I am experiencing difficulties with the devices working together.

It appears that the problem manifests as latency – the sound plays significantly after the pad is struck. However, upon further investigation, this may not precisely be the problem, because if I play a slow roll, the program only picks up some of the hits, resulting in a stuttering pattern very dissimilar to what I played.

I have done some research into the problem, but have not come across a case quite like mine, mostly because of the following fact: the computer keyboard works perfectly as a MIDI device without any latency. This rules out any possibility of my audio setup being the problem, meaning the fault must be with the program or the drumkit. (Otherwise, as far as I'm aware, they should either both work or neither work.)

I have come to realize that drum kits may not often be used my LMMS users, but I hoped that someone here could possibly offer advice or identify the cause of the problem.

Thanks,
Jade.

Specifications:
HP Pavilion DV6
Windows 10
(Latest version of LMMS)
Yamaha DTXpress II

[slipstick]

Latency problems are almost always caused by the connection between the device and the computer. Some interfaces are a lot slower than others. From the online manual your drumkit only seems to have standard DIN MIDI connections so how exactly are you connecting it to the computer. A MIDI over USB interface ? Which one ?

In general connecting drums should not be any different from using a USB MIDI keyboard and loads of us are using external MIDI keyboards with no real problems.

Steve

[musikbear]

Hello.

Hi, first Welcome to the forum Finkie! Here are all our important links:
http://lmms.io/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4740
And a few rules for Avatars, signatures, posting and using the right sub-forum :)

Resiliently was added a guide for midi device connection on our wiki
Have you read it?
https://lmms.io/wiki/index.php?title=Us ... started.3F
and the next 3 chapters

Steve is dead right about the devise being the point of attack, when it comes to latency issues, but you also have the actual latency setting:

What values do you have here?

[The Finkie]

Thank both of you for your responses.

slipstick: I am connecting using a MIDI to USB cable. I know that the cord is working, at least, because I am receiving a signal, but are you suggesting that it could be slightly faulty? Or do you mean the drumkit's output? I have used the kit with other programs, but always experience latency issues. If I had a MIDI keyboard, I would test that, but unfortunately not. My drumkit also has another PC output port, but I've not looked at that; I do not have a cord with the connection.

musikbear: Thanks for the welcome! Would you believe, I completely overlooked those buffer settings somehow. I've adjusted them (they were on the default – 256 frames, I believe?) to the lowest setting, without losing any sound quality, but while the drumkit seems slightly better (dragging the buffer size higher made the latency problem worse, so it definitely made a difference), it is still unusable.

Anything else anyone can offer is very welcome; I would very much like to solve this and actually be able to use my drumkit.

[TrumpislikeCyrus]

Couple of things, friend.
LMMS I/O is not even capable of detecting the MIDI controller which some not so powerful DAWs recognizes and uses. It's a really popular one and have been in use at least since 2008 or so. Your drumkit and piano at least gets recognized!
There seems to be a lack of focus on the MIDI aspect of lmms but that may not be the case. If your drumkit came with a driver installation requirement, please make sure you do so and that you also check with the manufacturer.
If you do suspect that the latency is at fault, then tweak it with ASIO control panel. Also, on the windows I/O, make sure that there's no other sound card intensive applications running at the same time. Disable 'steromix' and maybe microphone for a quick fix. On the sample size, try to decrease the latency while at the same time preserving audio quality which would be around 1024 samples. The default MIDI driver on lmms seems to be an underpowered one. Maybe you know more about that than I do.

Other than that, let's hope the future lmms by the mercy of God will be complete and better than these buggy ones.

peace.

[The Finkie]

LMMS I/O is not even capable of detecting the MIDI controller which some not so powerful DAWs recognizes and uses. It's a really popular one and have been in use at least since 2008 or so. Your drumkit and piano at least gets recognized!

What controller are you speaking of here? My drum kit is definitely getting recognized, but I'm curious about what you're talking about.

If you do suspect that the latency is at fault, then tweak it with ASIO control panel.

I've heard this word "ASIO" thrown around a lot. I believe that it is not naturally supported by LMMS. I have tried to add it, but had no success. It's worth mentioning that PortAudio abruptly stopped working the other day, so I am using "SDL".

Also, on the windows I/O, make sure that there's no other sound card intensive applications running at the same time. Disable 'steromix' and maybe microphone for a quick fix.

This is not the issue.

On the sample size, try to decrease the latency while at the same time preserving audio quality which would be around 1024 samples.

I have adjusted these setting, and lowered the buffer to 64 frames without losing audio quality. It has helped, but it's still not perfect, and for drums it needs to be pretty much perfect.

As I mentioned, I'm forced to use SDL now, and I believe that I have lowered the latency a little, but not enough. It is maddening. I think possibly ASIO might be a solution, but don't think it is possible to use without PortAudio. If anyone can help further, I would very pleased. Otherwise, I'll have to look for a new DAW, or even a new computer

[mrlmmsguy]

Not sure if this is any help, but i found a homebrew driver for linux. It works with several different drumpads
https://sourceforge.net/projects/rbdrum2midi/
[Edit: It's not. I remembered he's on windows right after posting. RIP me.]