time delay confuing a nubie

[marcusplaying]

Hi,

I've got a Yamaha PSR290 which has MIDI. I'm pretty new to using MIDI. So I installed CUBASE and I also tried a free program ( I forget the name ). I was using an interface (? not sure if that's the right word.) It's a USB cable that goes through a little 2"square device and then on through the midi ports of the keyboard. Using VST to link to an instrument I was getting piano sounds but there was a 0.5 - 1 second delay on it which made playing anything impossible for me. Please can you tell me what I need to do because although the instruments in the PSR-290 are pretty good I'd like to use some really top.notch sound fonts and MIDI to get a beautiful piano sound.

Thanks.

Marcus.

 

[goz211]

Welcome to the forum.

If you've got it making a sound you're almost there. Someone on here will be able to help you fix this.

How techie are you Marcus? You're probably going to need to tweak a few settings and/or install ASIO drivers (maybe).

What spec is your PC/Mac and what's the USB device?

Lastly how are you listening to the VST piano sounds and what is the free software?

 

[marcusplaying]

Hi,

Thanks. I think I download Anvil Studio to play it. ( I had also tried Cubase with the same result ) . I'm very techie with computers. I'm using a bog standard laptop running Windows 7 and Windos XP (dual boot) but I'm virtually completely new to Midi software so I've been having some trouvle understanding what is what inside the software. But I did manage to at least get the piano running from the VST instruments. It got much easier once I discovered that the "IN" plug goes into MIDI OUT and the "OUT" plug goes into MINI IN !! hehe .. but I need to fix the time delay or I won't be able to use it. The cable I bought was about 25 dollars compared to the 75 dollars for the Yamaha one. I wonder if that is why ?

 

[goz211]

Unlikely to be the cable. Go from the MIDI OUT on your Yamaha keyboard to the MIDI IN on your USB box. Don't attach anything else unless you want Cubase to play back tracks using the sounds on your Yamaha.

Never heard of Anvil Studio. Are you running Cubase using the ASIO drivers - or microsoft's mapper thingies?

What's the USB box with the midi in/outs? It's clearly working as you're getting a sound but is it plug and play or did it need driver software?

Which version of Cubase are you using? What version is it showing and have you checked for updates?

Is it an older version where you load the VSTs into a bank and access them by mapping the midi input there - or one of the more recent versions where you can create an instrument track?

If you're very techie first thing I'd do is see if you can make absolutely sure your USB box and Cubase are using the ASIO drivers that Cubase likes - and I think install when you put Cubase on there. If not (and you can't) - try downloading ASIO4All drivers and see if it works when you run those.

If you're posting back - what is the USB box and which version of Cubase (and check the build no.)?

 

[Musicman222]

A little more info is needed. The OS was good. We need to know:
How much RAM do you have?
What processor do you have? And what Speed is it clocked at?
What other Apps/Services do you have running?
What drivers are you using? ASIO?
What VSTs are you trying to play?
What, if any, software are you using?

 

[marcusplaying]

Hi All,

Here's the information:

Cubase Version 5.1
Windows 7 , 32bit
RAM: 2GB
CPU: Mobile Dual Core Intel Pentium T2130, 800MHz (14 x 57)
There are no other Apps running.
The MIDI cable doesnt have a brand name written on it. It just says Midi USB. It has three LEDs on it: One appears to be a power light. The other two are IN and OUT. The part with the electronics in is not much bigger than a match box.
When I start ANVIL, the MIDI program I'm using, it automatically plays the piano but there is a list of instruments you can select. I'm not familiar with different file types for instruments. Can I assume that those instruments in ANVIL are VST instruments ?
I don't have Cubase installed anymore but I think I was using Cubse built-in instruments if such a thing exists and was getting the same time delay. I had to run Cubase under XP though becuase it wouldn't start up properly in Windows 7.

 

[goz211]

Hi Marcus. Not familiar with Anvil - sorry can't help. Maybe Musicman or another forumite uses it and can offer some advice.

The Midi USB box - can you post a link to somewhere you've seen it for sale online?

Good luck.

 

[marcusplaying]

Here's the cable- I bought it from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cable-Adapt...1_1?ie=UTF8&s=computers&qid=1305673286&sr=8-1

I fired up Cubase again and I got a list of preferences and I chose "Cubase Instruments". Then my keyboard was acting like a drum kit and it SEEMED to be syncronised well but I need to test it again. The trouble is that Cubase seems to me to be so feature-rich that it seems to be too advanced for me, I'd really like to be able to d/l or buy an excellent sound font of a piano and then use it with whatever program works. Later it would be good to make recordings too.

 

[goz211]

Truepianos demo:

http://www.truepianos.com/downloads.php

Pianoteq demo:

http://www.pianoteq.com/try

Cantabile Lite:

http://www.cantabilesoftware.com/lite/

Hi Marcus - I've no experience with that Midi to USB device you've bought. Above are two free demos of piano VSTs. They will run in a "standalone" version. You might try downloading them and seeing if you're still getting a delay.

The other software is a VST host - download it and load the piano software you have (BTW what is it?) into it. Again see if you can get a sound out of it - and check if there's a delay.

Post back with what you find.

 

[marcusplaying]

Thanks. I'll try them out. A friend gave me a file which he said was a very high quality sound font file of a steinway piano. It's a sfArk file.

 

[goz211]

Get your friend involved in getting you set up. That sfARK file may be the old Akai piano samples made into an sf2 file - I have it somewhere in various sizes. You need something that plays soundfonts - google sfz if your friend can't get you sorted.

 

[marcusplaying]

I just tried truepianos. It told me that I would experience delays (which I did) unless I installed ASIO4ALL. So I installed it and after rebooting the computer it worked without any significant delay.
So the next thing is to try to get the sfArk file working with some program I suppose ( unless you have a better suggestion ). I'm aiming for the best quality instrument possible because I love the sound of the piano so much.

 

[marcusplaying]

Thanks. I've completely lost touch with him because it was 8 years ago. I'll get googling.

 

[marcusplaying]

HI, I just wanted to say many thanks for your help with this. Now that the delay issue is fixed with the drivers I just need to get down to learning Cubase or whatever else I decide to use.

Thanks Again.

Marcus

 

[goz211]

Good luck on your musical adventure.