Starting a new thread to try and gain some traction on this old issue, reported but still unresolved.
I’m using a keystep 37 connected to the S2400 host usb port, controlling 3 daisy-chained synths from the S2400 midi OUT on channels 14, 15, 16.
When I start playing notes, usually chords, I can play for about 20 seconds before one of the notes will hang continuously until killed by toggling something on the synth. From that point on, the same note will always hang along with some new ones if play continues. Only power cycling the 2400 stops notes from hanging, but it only resets the bug before it repeats on other random notes.
This happens when using either midi input focus or setting the host keyboard to the midi channel of the synth, and can be reproduced on all connected synths by switching midi channel / input focus.
MIDI THRU - the issue can’t be produced using midi thru instead of midi out, which perhaps makes sense because the notes are passed thru unprocessed by the OS. This is my awkward workaround, since I can still record notes unaffected by the bug but must reconnect to midi out to have them played back.
Edit: turns out the bug happens on the midi thru connection too
+1 for this, I really hope it gets fixed in the next firmware update. I really want to make the S2400 the centrepiece for my studio but the hanging notes and notes being cut off are a major roadblock.
Never really play w the S2400, nor even make music anymore, since I don’t have an MPC/midi-sequencer anymore and the S2400 lacks any real, useful or decent midi-sequencer capabilities.
The cut-off midi notes on each loop repetition is the biggest roadblock.
Same. I haven’t turned on my unit since March last year. I just cannot rely on it and it looks like I am not alone because it just flops when using it with any sort of external device
I have reported a lot of instances of stuck notes with the MIDI tracks in many threads to no avail. I love my S2400 as a drum machine and sampler and have fully given up on using it as a stable and functional MIDI sequencer, which really bums me out.
I hope that gets worked out someday soon!
I/We all know it was never marketed/designed/promised to become a centerpiece nor some kinda MPC.
But, I’d love it to go in that direction (a HW studio centerpiece like an MPC), rather than in the direction of a boom-bap-only machine, only for boom-bap heads, or an SP-404 (DSP cards and other features), or a HW sampler only intended for a DAW workflow, etc.
It’d be much more versatile and usable if it was to evolve into a classic MPC-esque machine, than an SP-404, imo.
I’m no engineer/programmer (I’m ignunt bout that stuff)… but I’d guess Midi is probably super complex & intricate to program and would prolly need a separate midi department/engineer/s to really focus only on that, to get it right and not just be an afterthought & slapped on last minute (esp. since their hands are super full w/ all these current/pending projects - dsp card, analog filter card, Caladan, synth repairs, etc.).
I really wish their programmers/engineers would obtain a classic MPC (60, 3K, 2k, 1000, etc.), use & really learn its’ midi-sequencer deeply and reverse-engineer it for the S2400. Maybe collab w/ someone from Roger Linn’s Akai team from back in the day. That’d make the S2400 gnarly I’d think.
I mean it’s not that far away. Apart from this bug, lack of pitch bend / mod wheel, it’s been pretty solid as a centrepiece for me. I would really love simultaneous pattern playback, for polyrhythms and drum variation without reprogramming drums in every pattern.
I love the sound of the S2400, but so far it’s been hindered by a sequencer that doesn’t feel fully robust and debugged to me. To be fair I think it’s almost there in terms of being a centerpiece of a studio and people still crank out some good stuff. However I have an MPC 60 that I always feel compelled to return to because it feels easier to lay down grooves, sequence other gear and it feels more stable overall. And that’s all despite its age.
I’m very enthusiastic about what the Isla team has been working on, but I wish they’d slow down or even pause on other projects and really tie any loose ends in the sequencer and debug the machine throughly before working on more products/features. I don’t want to see this become another ASR-X if you know what I mean. I get sad anytime I see a new bug report like this, especially for features that are fundamental.
BTW my understanding is that Roger Linn himself programmed the OG MPC software and others worked on the hardware side of things.
Yeah, I miss my old MPC60. Kinda regret selling it, lol. (it was my first & only sequencer for years).
Here’s an in-depth tut the devs/engineers could maybe use, refer to, re-engineer and improve S2400’s midi-seq:
Many S2400 owners may argue (esp on GS) that it doesn’t need a good midi-seq nor anymore features, bloatware, etc.; since they’re happy in boom-bap-land or DAW-land… but, to clarify, I’m/we’re not asking for a fully-featured “Modern” MPC (One, Live2, X, Keys); which is basically a DAW… we’re jus asking for a solid, reliable, simple, basic “Classic” MPC sequencer with the essentials.
So I will say that the S2400 doesn’t necessarily need to or should copy the MPC way of sequencing. At most it could draw inspiration from the 60/3000 perhaps for future workflow improvements, but the architecture of the S2400 is generally well thought out considering it was designed to be a successor of sorts to the SP1200.
In the end I think it boils down to working out the kinks that remain in terms of stability and debugging the S2400. But for sure I’d like to see this bug and others in the sequencer worked out. I have experienced a few of the unresolved bugs mentioned in this forum, but I’ve been lucky that my unit hasn’t given me much trouble.
Hi , i am new to the forum - dont have a S2400 , owner and user of sp12 and SP1200 user since ages , but been lurking and contemplating on getting S2400…
Reading about this MIDI bugs makes me worried ended as i hoped that S2400
would be a huge update in terms of MIDI implementation to OG SP …
hope ILSA Instruments irons out all the bugs
peace
Jazz