Sync to DAW (Ableton) Noob

Ah, sorry I missed this when it was posted.

Yes, you can reliably sync to a DAW-- if you have a MIDI interface that pretends to be multiple interfaces, it can be helpful to dedicate a MIDI out to modular sync, especially if you're doing a lot of other MIDI stuff. (These days multi-interfaces like MOTU's various devices aren't super expensive, and audio interfaces often have MIDI built in as well.)

As described above, run MIDI into the MASTER module's MIDI in and make sure Ableton is set up to send sync to that midi port. You should see blinky lights on the MASTER when it's receiving clock. You can also use the Heartbeat and expander, which has its own MIDI in and is VERY flexible. I'll talk about that in a minute.

The MASTER will send 24ppqn clock out on the system's bus and out of the B.Clock output. It will also grab MIDI start and stop events and send them on the bus and out of its own B.Stop and B.Start outputs. This is important for keeping stuff in sync.

The most basic way to set this up would be to patch the bus clock (which, remember, is 24ppqn, which comes out to 6 pulses per 16th note or 12 per eighth note) into a clock divider to turn the 24ppqn into single 16th note pulses (or other useful divisions). The MM-Divider module is the current easiest way to do this. You then patch the divided output of that into the clock in of your sequencer. You probably also want to patch the Stop signal from the MASTER module (either from the bus or its own wire straight from the master module) into the RESET input of your sequencer. This will ensure that every time you hit stop on your DAW it sets the sequencer back to its first step and should keep stuff in sync.

The Heartbeat and Heartbeat Expander modules give you something similar, but a LOT more flexibility with divisions and multiple outputs that can be set up with different clock divisions-- a 16th output, plus an 8th note, plus whole notes or triplets or whatever. It's quite nice and very flexible. If you're going to do a lot of MIDI syncing it's worth picking up.

Where I've run into timing instability has been when trying to clock a lot of sequencers from a single pin on the master module-- hooking up a bunch of clock inputs to one output can cause voltage drops, I believe, and the sequencers will miss notes. You will need a buffered mult between the clock source and the sequencers to keep everything happy. You will probably want to do the same with either the start or stop triggers, with a buffered mult between them and the reset inputs on the sequencers.

I have also found that the SEQ8 and SEQ16 modules handle resets a little differently, so be prepared to do a little testing with the bus stop and start signals.

Anyway, I usually have a bunch of different sequencers going at all times (2xSEQ16, 2xSEQ8, Topograf, Euclid Grid, TRIQ164) and all synced to MIDI for the sake of recording, and I've had good luck setting it up like this and keeping it all in sync. The buffered mults made the biggest difference, but if you're not running more than, say, 2 sequencers you can probably get away without that. But more than that, and you'll want buffers in there.

I hope this helps.