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/ pulsar-buddy

Latest release
MIDI Sync Beta
Latest release

@mzero mzero released this Oct 30, 2020

New features

  • sync to MIDI over USB
    • handles both DAW style & HW style MIDI clock
    • handles transport, w/song position (SPP) support
    • handles picking up from mid-bar
  • support for flipped display (on configuration screen)

Why Beta?

This release has a major overhaul of the clock code to support MIDI sync features, future DIN sync features, and future support for the "O" input. In general, I believe the sync is even more stable than before, and should sync even more quickly. The MIDI implementation has to deal with the "interesting" quirks of various DAWs and HW MIDI implementations. I only have so many in my studio... so I'd like to learn how it performs for others before I call it final.

Nonetheless, don't be scared of "beta" - It should just drop in and work as it always has. And if not, you can just reload v106 without losing anything.

About the BPM Display

Remember that the numeric display of BPM is a guide - what Pulsar Buddy tracks and outputs is always more accurate. Always trust your ears, and don't fret about the number in the display if it jitters or lags.

When tracking MIDI from DAWs, I've learned that they can do some pretty bizarre things... in part because of how MIDI is defined. If you "continue" from where you stopped in your DAW, and that place was somewhere mid-measure, say three 64th notes in.... The BPM is going to look crazy for two beats.... don't worry: That is what your DAW has to do to get MIDI to sync... and Pulsar Buddy is tracking it very tightly. Again - trust your ears.

To load this release on a unit

  1. Make sure Pulsar Buddy is powered normally via its 12V jack... it won't power from USB.Connect
  2. Connect to your computer via USB.
  3. Press the reset button on the Pulsar Buddy twice, quickly. This button is on the display board, in the bottom right, and labeled "Reset". Because it is under the acrylic window, you'll need to use something to get at it. Don't use something metal - I use a guitar pick.
  4. In a few seconds, a USB disk called FEATHERBOOT will mount on your computer.
  5. Simply drag the pulsar-buddy-v107b.uf2 file onto that drive. It will copy over, and the disk will automatically disconnect. Your computer will probably alert you about this, just close the alert and ignore it.
  6. Done! In a second or so the Pulsar Buddy will reboot and you'll be upgraded.
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