I have been testing the betas for quite a long time now, but bad and strange enough I still prefer MG2 as its interface is cleaner and it works well and the latency actually seem to be pretty much the same as in MG3, so far. So now it’s easy to wonder: Is MG3 needed? Did the development stop?
Are you kidding or is that your true opinion? If you don’t see the huge development comparing MG2 to MG3, I wonder how you use MG2/3. You probably haven’t explored all the great new features and tracking improvement MG3 offers.
Maybe you don’t need them, but that doesn’t justify the harsh tone at the end of your post.
these are some of the features i use regularly in mg3 which are not available in mg2:
midi cc control mapping
infinite sustain
hex processing
network transfer
string filter
strike filter
legato filter
it is certainly possible that mg2 is a perfect fit for your usage. other users though have more complex needs which mg3 is regularly being updated to address in a creative and effective manner.
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I’m sorry if I sound harsh, that’s not the meaning. I probably don’t need more than what’s available in MG2, but preferable with even better latency. Please forget what I said. Forget this thread.
If you really want to improve latency you must start with your hardware. Neither MG2 nor MG3 do introduce relevant latency to the entire system. The latency of the program(s) is neglectable.
I think the latency is still the problem. Try recording a tight bass guitar with your guitar on a pop or rock song. Kind of hard. Yeah I know lofileif plays really fast, but mainly he plays tightly spaced notes on the same string and he stays away from lower notes and no one can really tell what he’s playing because it’s jazz.
Agreed. And that is what I mostly try to do, simple lines in rock music to try to be at least a bit “in sync”. Leif plays great and his music is artful and beautiful.
And so far the GUI is better/more clear and simple to use in MG2. I say this soft and kind so please don’t get angry, it’s all my personal thought and therefore not objective, just subjective.
Thank you for the feedback.
Generally, tracking latency accumulate from several aspects: There is the rock bottom physics and the MG technology, but also DAW, audio interface and operating system, and the multi-threading setting in MG3. If you are using Windows, and/or if you are using a DAW, there are good reasons to scrutinise your system!
As for tracking latency, the vanilla MG3 is identical or a tad faster than MG2, but MG3 has MPE which gives us, among other things, improved dynamics and pitch, something that is easy to overlook but also very important for most instruments.
MG3 is a true modular system, with modules for fine tuning everything, and the MG3 Hex tracker is there if you need that kind of faster response.
Tracking is complex and there will always be some latency (zero latency, with midi would mean detecting a note before it’s sounding). We usually just say we want low latency, and it’s surely possible to make it “faster” at any cost, but you really dont want that. Note-offs are equally important as note-ons to not feel sluggish. You’ll want some amount of control over its velocity dynamics, pitch variations, and be very sensitive to not have to “work” too much with the strings. All of these things are inversely correlated.
With this in mind, on modern Macs, iPads (soon) and well tuned Windows systems, I believe the MG2/3 tracking is the fastest jack-to-midi solution, and the MG3 Hex tracker is the fastest hex-to-midi solution you’ll find.
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Thanks for a kind and quick response, JamO. I just tested the Hex Tracker now, which I didn’t know about before, and it actually works for recording a bass with my guitar in Logic, at least if I also have the audio audio input from the guitar monitored (in a mix with the bass plugin). That way the playing latency to make the recording in a more accurate time easier. Without the audio enabled it’s still not easy (for me and my setup) to play/record in accurate time.
About the GUI, is it possible to make MG3 scalable, as it was in MG2, not only the “1-3 rows”?
grab the lower right corner of the mg3 window and it will resize.
you may find there is much less latency with your hardware when using mg3 in standalone mode. at the very least, it would be useful to know just how much latency logic is introducing into the equation.
I use it in standalone mode. Triggering logic plugins. And just noticed the Hex Tracker makes the connection to Logic lost. Sorry, but I can’t really handle all options in MG3, can’t get it clear what is what.
Just tested to use MG2, in standalone mode, as described above, with MIDI and audio monitor input both enabled while recording a simple bass played with the guitar into logic . It works as good as MG3, with a much easier GUI so I will until further on continue using MG2 and see if MG3 may be useful here in the future. Thanks for suggestions.
“grab the lower right corner of the mg3 window and it will resize.”
The resize in MG3 is so far not consistent. Check and compare with MG2.
Ok, so stuff like this i just depressing. How is this an argument for the claim that “latency is still the problem”?
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I just mean that you playing fast jazzy runs in 5/4 is hardly a yardstick for us mere mortals when trying to figure out the latency in MG3. It’s not like it’s easy to tell if you’re “in the pocket”. I just wanna be able to track a fake bass guitar in sync with a drumtrack. Quite impossible.
this is not trivial, but it’s also not a problem for most users.
as i said above, the first issue is to determine if mg3 will deliver acceptable latency in standalone mode.
this means no daw, and your instrument loaded directly in mg3.
if this does not deliver a playable experience the likeliest suspects are: your audio interface driver and your system latency.
if it does, then your issue is likely your daw or your software instrument.
playing a bass line against a drum track is achievable for most users without any significant modification to their equipment and only slight mods to their playing technique.
‘quite impossible’ is not how most of us would describe this task.
playing like leif, now that’s quite impossible. even if my fingers cooperated, my brain is simply not big enough.
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For me, as I use it to record in Logic on a Mac, the latency is the problem. But as mentioned, it can work (figured it out today) if I’m able to monitor my played guitar simultaneously while recording the midi. And in this case the latency seems to be the about the same in both MG2 and MG3, so I prefer MG2 as it is more clean and “completed” – yet not all those new functions included which I don’t need. At least not now, and probably not later.
As @JamO stated above you have physics to contend with here and that could simply be the end of the story.
Have you perchance tried playing your bass parts an octave higher and using the transpose down function to give you a slightly snappier response? Granted, 15~20ms delay (or whatever the actual average latency roughly is now) is a reality if you don’t play uniformly a hair ahead of the beat.
Ok let’s end the story. Thanks for your help again.
I didn’t say people don’t have a problem with latency. I asked how that stuff about my playing is an argument for the claim that “latency is still the problem”.