uSync Plugin Shift Has No Effect – Jitter and MIDI Sync Issues with NOME 2 + Ableton Live 11

[ilse808]

Hi everyone,

I bought the NOME 2 to achieve tight MIDI sync between Ableton Live (Master Clock) (11.3.42 Suite on macOS Ventura) and my hardware instruments (Digitakt, Octatrack, TB-303, MS2000r, Minilogue). I'm using the uSync plugin exactly as described in the official instructions, and NOME 2 is correctly detected. MIDI signals are reaching the hardware, and MIDI notes are triggering as expected. However, the MIDI clock is not tight, there's constant jitter, and the Shift parameter in the uSync plugin appears to have no effect at all, not audible, not measurable in recorded audio. The same is true for Ableton’s Track Delay.

Here’s how I have things set up:

NOME 2 is connected via USB to my Mac. MIDI Out 1 from the NOME 2 goes to (in this example) Korg MS2000R. In Ableton, I have a MIDI track sending to "NOME 2 – MIDI Out 1", and in the MIDI Preferences, Track, Sync, and Remote are all enabled for that midi output. The uSync plugin is loaded in a track and recognized by Ableton, and the plugin itself detects the NOME correctly. On the audio side, I’m recording the MS2000R back into Ableton through Input 1+2 of my Lynx interface, on a track with Monitor set to OFF, as suggested in the uSync setup documentation.

In Ableton’s Options menu, both "Delay Compensation" and "Reduced Latency When Monitoring" are turned ON (as suggested in uSync setup documentation)

Now to the issue:

The MIDI clock is extremely unstable. I’ve recorded the MS2000R playing Synth notes triggered by MIDI and observed timing variations of up to 5ms between hits, for example, one hit lands 39ms early, another 41ms, another 40ms, etc. That jitter alone is already a problem.

But the biggest problem I am facing is that changing the Shift value in the uSync plugin, even dramatically, does absolutely nothing. The audio remains in exactly the same place. There’s no audible change, and visually, the waveforms of the recorded hits are unaffected. I also tried using Ableton’s Track Delay feature, and that too had zero effect on the timing of the recorded audio.

I’ve repeated these tests with multiple devices (Digitakt, Octatrack, TB-303, Minilogue), and the issue is exactly the same across all of them. MIDI notes transmit fine, but clock sync is unreliable and cannot be adjusted.

To troubleshoot, I’ve tested:

– Switching Monitor IN/OFF in Ableton
– Different Shift values (+/- 40ms, +/- 10ms, etc. or even very extreme ones)
– Removing the plugin and reloading it
– Varying USB ports and buffer sizes
– Swapping instruments and cables
- Turning Redcued Latency when monitoring on/off
- Switching Monitor of the Audio Track to "in" "Auto" "off"
- Using external instrument instead of dedicated Midi channel + audio channel

Nothing makes a difference.

I actually had the same issue previously with the E-RM Multiclock, which is why I switched to NOME 2, expecting better macOS integration. But unfortunately, I’m experiencing the exact same behavior.

At this point, I’m wondering whether this is:

– A problem with Ableton Live not applying plugin delay compensation correctly
– Something specific to macOS or USB timing on my system
– Or possibly something I’ve overlooked in the NOME configuration

If anyone has encountered this or can suggest a solution, I’d be deeply grateful. I’ve been trying to get tight MIDI sync for weeks now and am stuck. Thanks in advance for any insight or ideas.

Best regards,

Ilse

[Simon]

Hi Ilse, sorry to hear about this!

I'll investigate and get back to you shortly (probably Tuesday).

Simon

[ilse808]

Hey Simon,

Thanks so much for your prompt reply, means a lot!

I wanted to add a small but important discovery to my issue.

I noticed that the Shift function in the uSync plugin does work correctly when I’m using an internal sequencer, for example on the Digitakt. If I let the Digitakt play a pattern via its internal sequencer, clocked by the NOME/uSync setup, the Shift value affects the recorded audio as expected, both audibly and visibly in Ableton.

However, when I try to use MIDI notes from Ableton to trigger external gear (like my Minilogue), the Shift parameter has no effect at all. The audio timing of the triggered notes stays the same, no matter how I adjust the Shift value.

This means the plugin works in one scenario (internal hardware sequencer) but fails when MIDI notes are generated inside Ableton and sent to hardware.

This could help narrow down where the issue lies , maybe in how MIDI output timing from Ableton is handled relative to the uSync plugin’s processing.

Is the nome2 actually meant to also work when I trigger midi notes generated in Ableton? I guess, right?

Warmly,

Ilse

[Simon]

However, when I try to use MIDI notes from Ableton to trigger external gear (like my Minilogue), the Shift parameter has no effect at all. The audio timing of the triggered notes stays the same, no matter how I adjust the Shift value.

Well that explains it, then I missed that in your first message.

Unfortunately for now U-SYNC only handles MIDI Clock, not MIDI notes. So yes you need to use a hardware sequencer. Basically the clock goes through U-SYNC so it is very tight, while the MIDI Notes are simply sent to the Nome over USB-MIDI (not through U-SYNC) and then forwarded by the device right away when they arrive, their timing is unchanged.

The plan is to add MIDI Notes to U-SYNC eventually, in U-SYNC 2.0 - see here: https://forum.simntonic.com/viewtopic.php?t=510

But there is a lot of work to do before that, among others U-SYNC for Windows, FW 5.0, some add-on modules. So there is no ETA, no guarantee, and it might take a while in any case.

In the meantime using a hardwar sequencer is probably a good idea anyways, especially if you have one

Simon