I'll have to retry my own SC-88 Pro because I don't recall experiencing this issue.

I know this is an issue with the Roland JV line of MIDI modules. It's caused by simultaneous program changes which results in a delay in note playback. Unfortunately in those cases there isn't anything that can be done short of editing the MIDI files.

Radar4k wrote on 2024-04-06, 04:00:

Hi all,

I bought a Roland SC-88 Pro last year and I just love this device. One issue I always have with it though is that when I start playing a MIDI file, there is always a delay right when the audio starts, and then it immediately catches up and sounds fine. This makes it quite irritating recording midi files because it never plays the intro right. Is there a conventional way of fixing this issue?

Radar, is it the only external device you have? And does this issue happen playing GM files as well as 88 Pro files?

Never experienced this on my 88Pro, and I've played a lot of MIDIs in it over the years.

Also haven't experienced it on my 88Pro (nor my SC-55 or JV-1080)

Not seen this on my SC55-mk2 nor SC-8820.

The only time I can say that you experience a delay in the music starting is on the MT-32, this is when the initial sysex programming is being done to customise the device... but playback never starts until that is finished anyway.

I am inferring from the description that the midi audio starts... but is then slowed, delayed or otherwise played back incorrectly for a short time, then reverts to normal? Rather than the alternate interpretation of there being a pause until the initial playback starts?

How is your SC-88 connected to your PC (ISA soundcard with joystick<->midi adapter, dedicated ISA MIDI controller, modern PCI soundcard in Windows with MIDI ports, a USB<->MIDI adapter?), and is this in all scenarios, or just application MIDI playback (e.g. from a MIDI pplayer in Windows/Linux/Mac) or in games themselves?

Hello all, thanks for the help so far.

Spikey wrote on 2024-04-06, 05:40:

Radar, is it the only external device you have? And does this issue happen playing GM files as well as 88 Pro files?

It is the only MIDI device I have. I don't know how to differentiate between files made for GM or SC-88 Pro. I'm playing .mid files on my PC.

megatron-uk wrote on 2024-04-06, 11:03:

I am inferring from the description that the midi audio starts... but is then slowed, delayed or otherwise played back incorrectly for a short time, then reverts to normal? Rather than the alternate interpretation of there being a pause until the initial playback starts?

Basically, as soon as I press "play" on a MIDI file, it plays the very start of the song very fast almost like it's trying to catch up with something, and then it starts playing normally. Maybe I should post a video of what's going on. It probably all happens in less than a second, but it's long enough to basically ruin the intro of every MIDI file I try to record.

megatron-uk wrote on 2024-04-06, 11:03:

How is your SC-88 connected to your PC (ISA soundcard with joystick<->midi adapter, dedicated ISA MIDI controller, modern PCI soundcard in Windows with MIDI ports, a USB<->MIDI adapter?), and is this in all scenarios, or just application MIDI playback (e.g. from a MIDI pplayer in Windows/Linux/Mac) or in games themselves?

I'm on Windows 11 connected to the SC-88 Pro via a UA Volt 4. I also have a Roland UM-ONE mk2 that behaves the same. I've tested with a handful of media players including Windows Media Player, MPC-HC, Fumy's TMIDI player, and also in-game. So basically, all scenarios.

Just hooked up my own SC-88 Pro and can confirm that audio is playing back normally. I tested various Doom and Doom2 MIDIs and there are no issues with playback of the intros of MIDI files.

I'm using an M-Audio Uno USB interface on my main Windows 10 computer. Playback is via Windows Media Player Classic with software MIDI routing handled by CoolSoft MIDIMapper.

What is a good MIDI editor if I were to edit the MIDI files manually? The editor should be able to retain all the programming within the MIDI file.

It is the only MIDI device I have. I don't know how to differentiate between files made for GM or SC-88 Pro. I'm playing .mid files on my PC.

MIDI editor, although presumably when you download a special file for 88Pro it will tell you.
This link has specific SC-88 Pro demos:
https://archive.org/details/roland-demo-midis

As for MIDI editors, I would recommend Voyetra's Record Producer MIDI Edition (modern version of MIDI/Digital Orchestrator), but there's many good ones these days, starting free is probably a good way to go.

One other thing I'd do is to do a factory reset, 'just in case' (obviously backup USER section if necessary and take note of any settings you've changed yourself):
1. Hold down SELECT and press INSTRUMENT left and right buttons.
2. Press ALL.

Spikey wrote on 2024-04-07, 05:12:

One other thing I'd do is to do a factory reset, 'just in case' (obviously backup USER section if necessary and take note of any settings you've changed yourself):
1. Hold down SELECT and press INSTRUMENT left and right buttons.
2. Press ALL.

I do this all the time. Many of the MIDI files I have appear to perform a bunch of programming that affects how other files sound.

Spikey wrote on 2024-04-07, 05:12:

As for MIDI editors, I would recommend Voyetra's Record Producer MIDI Edition (modern version of MIDI/Digital Orchestrator), but there's many good ones these days, starting free is probably a good way to go.

Mind posting a link to some of those really good free ones? Trying to find a download for Voyetra Record Producer MIDI Edition but every site looks sketchy.

Does it happen with all files or just some ? A number of files make a lot of MIDI parameter updates during startup and saturate the bandwidth of MIDI UART link. Such files are softsynth and USB connection orientated, where this problem will not be happening.

Tiido wrote on 2024-04-08, 23:09:

Does it happen with all files or just some ? A number of files make a lot of MIDI parameter updates during startup and saturate the bandwidth of MIDI UART link. Such files are softsynth and USB connection orientated, where this problem will not be happening.

Every MIDI file.

I've attached some examples of what it sounds like. The "good clip" is how it's supposed to sound, solved by simply adding a note of rest at the beginning of the song in the program I use to write. The "bad clip" is how it sounds if there's no rest at the beginning. In my testing, mpc-hc reduces the problem the most, but it's still far from acceptable.

Good clip: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cngmIPOH72fv … N7z1U_GDdI5eME/

Bad clip: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vr7AZV45s9Ti … RMtPRCwMGePN43/

Hi all, don't mean to double post, but after a long time searching I've finally found a thread that addresses the exact issue with multiple people confirming it.

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/131558- … ardware-module/

Apparently it's fixed in some common Doom ports like PrBoom+. There is a config option labeled "mus_portmidi_reset_delay" that fixes the issue. But I would really hate to have to launch a source port just to record MIDI files. Is there not a standalone MIDI player that supports this function?

I wonder if it’s related to specific hardware, that thread mentions it happening in sc55, but I don’t experience the issue on my hardware, what sound card are you using?

Edit: I saw you’re connected via a ua volt 4? It might be whatever hardware connects to your MIDI device, or the drivers involved.

midicollector wrote on 2024-04-12, 17:13:

I wonder if it’s related to specific hardware, that thread mentions it happening in sc55, but I don’t experience the issue on my hardware, what sound card are you using?

Edit: I saw you’re connected via a ua volt 4? It might be whatever hardware connects to your MIDI device, or the drivers involved.

I have a UA Volt 4, but the same thing happens with my Roland UM-ONE mk2. OS is Windows 11.

Radar4k wrote on 2024-04-12, 19:18:

midicollector wrote on 2024-04-12, 17:13:

I wonder if it’s related to specific hardware, that thread mentions it happening in sc55, but I don’t experience the issue on my hardware, what sound card are you using?

Edit: I saw you’re connected via a ua volt 4? It might be whatever hardware connects to your MIDI device, or the drivers involved.

I have a UA Volt 4, but the same thing happens with my Roland UM-ONE mk2. OS is Windows 11.

Hi,
I do not know if the current FSMP version can cure your issue or not, but if not I think we can figure out how to mitigate the problem:
http://falcosoft.hu/softwares.html#midiplayer
You can set reset delays even in the current version by right clicking the first aid like 'Reset' button at the right hand side of the player and then clicking on 'Select/Send custom SysEx'. Here you can find different delay options related to SysEx resets.

Falcosoft wrote on 2024-04-12, 19:37:

Hi, I do not know if the current FSMP version can cure your issue or not, but if not I think we can figure out how to mitigate […]
Show full quote

Hi,
I do not know if the current FSMP version can cure your issue or not, but if not I think we can figure out how to mitigate the problem:
http://falcosoft.hu/softwares.html#midiplayer
You can set reset delays even in the current version by right clicking the first aid like 'Reset' button at the right hand side of the player and then clicking on 'Select/Send custom SysEx'. Here you can find different delay options related to SysEx resets.
fsmp_reset_delay.png

Hi, I just downloaded FSMP. It's a very nice player. Unfortunately, I still have the same issue. Pressing the reset button separately won't help much, because the problem occurs every time I start a MIDI file.

I'm surprised nobody else is able to reproduce this issue, as I was able to find a Doomworld thread where this was a common problem.

Radar4k wrote on 2024-04-12, 20:20:

Falcosoft wrote on 2024-04-12, 19:37:

Hi, I do not know if the current FSMP version can cure your issue or not, but if not I think we can figure out how to mitigate […]
Show full quote

Hi,
I do not know if the current FSMP version can cure your issue or not, but if not I think we can figure out how to mitigate the problem:
http://falcosoft.hu/softwares.html#midiplayer
You can set reset delays even in the current version by right clicking the first aid like 'Reset' button at the right hand side of the player and then clicking on 'Select/Send custom SysEx'. Here you can find different delay options related to SysEx resets.
fsmp_reset_delay.png

Hi, I just downloaded FSMP. It's a very nice player. Unfortunately, I still have the same issue. Pressing the reset button separately won't help much, because the problem occurs every time I start a MIDI file.

I'm surprised nobody else is able to reproduce this issue, as I was able to find a Doomworld thread where this was a common problem.

Hi,
The reset and the delay you set is sent every time when you load a new Midi track, not only when you press the Reset button manually.

1. On the playlist part right click and disable 'Play from first Note' option.
2. Right click on the Reset button and select 'Select/Send custom SysEx'. On the opened dialog box select from the list 'GS_On.syx'.
3. Set 'Delay after Last SysEx chunk' to 250 ms.
4. Right click on the Reset button again and make sure that the last reset option 'GS_ON' is selected.
5. Load a Midi file from the playlist by double clicking on it. Notice if the problem is still present or not.
6. Press the stop button. Then press the play button (so do not reload the file by double clicking on the playlist).
7. Notice if there is any difference between 6. and 7. related to your problem.
8. Report back.

BTW, what Midi files are you using for testing?

Falcosoft wrote on 2024-04-12, 22:37:

Hi, The reset and the delay you set is sent every time when you load a new Midi track, not only when you press the Reset butto […]
Show full quote

Hi,
The reset and the delay you set is sent every time when you load a new Midi track, not only when you press the Reset button manually.

1. On the playlist part right click and disable 'Play from first Note' option.
2. Right click on the Reset button and select 'Select/Send custom SysEx'. On the opened dialog box select from the list 'GS_On.syx'.
3. Set 'Delay after Last SysEx chunk' to 250 ms.
4. Right click on the Reset button again and make sure that the last reset option 'GS_ON' is selected.
5. Load a Midi file from the playlist by double clicking on it. Notice if the problem is still present or not.
6. Press the stop button. Then press the play button (so do not reload the file by double clicking on the playlist).
7. Notice if there is any difference between 6. and 7. related to your problem.
8. Report back.

BTW, what Midi files are you using for testing?

Thank you for the help. I tried these steps but the issue still persists.

Here is a link to the MIDI file I'm testing with. It's a MIDI file I wrote that exacerbates the issue by having the music play from the very first beat.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zi1lHU2OSAce … r8NkbAG_5HTKCK/

Side note: Is there a way to reset FSMP configuration to factory defaults? I changed a bunch of settings earlier today that may unintentionally affect performance.