Midi nodes buffer Length

vvvv beta question
1

I have noticed in the change log that the midi nodes will default to enabled.

I would suggest that the default buffer Length is changed too, I always change it to 0 to have low latency and have not since I discovered that used any other size and I have not experienced any problems with it.

Sune

EDIT: change size to Length

2

After using midi extensively I can say that there are buffer overflows sometimes, but only at extremes like more than 30 notes playing at the same time, which isn’t a big problem realistically.

To be safe I had a counter that would increase the buffer length by one whenever there is a buffer overflow and start counting back down after a second or so in case it was just a temporary spike. It usually got no higher than 15, so i think the default value of 10 is the safe value to make sure nothing is dropped.

I have recently just left it at 0 as well and had no problems - at about the time the MidiNote node starts getting buffer overflows is when the internal midi routing driver I am using (LoopBe) can’t handle it anymore anyways and mutes all midi signals.

3

@sunep i wonder if you actually notice latency then if the buffer is at 10. if so that means that setting the buffer to 0 lets you miss notes which is fine? i also agree though that a buffer of 10 seems like a quite random choice now…

4

I notice a significant lag, my estimate is around 200ms when buffer length is 10 and unnoticeable when 0, I can not remember a single time where I have missed controller data… I almost never use midi notes, just controllers.

I would argue that overflow is very rare and the lag is more annoying.

If you have buffer overflows, you can always up the buffer length. As it is now I have gotten into the habit of changing the length to 0 every time I use it, when I some times forget, I am instantly reminded by the lag.

5

hm…would you agree that probably with controller values the default should be different than with notes? where with controllers you most likely just want the latest value when playing notes i’d still argue you more likely want to hear all notes (even if slightly delayed) rather than missing some.