Trigger Sync

A form of synchronization where the slave device does not stay resolved to the master. Trigger sync works by starting the slave device at the proper time to be “in sync” with the master. The two (or more) devices then move forward at their own speeds. Depending upon the characteristics of the devices it is likely they will drift out of sync with one another over time, but for a limited period this can be an effective and inexpensive way to synchronize two systems. This is quite often the standard way DAW’s sync to the outside world because the computing power to recalculate sample rates on the fly can eat up a lot of horsepower. When more precision is desired a stable reference clock (often coming from a special synchronizer) is introduced for the system to resolve to. Some DAW’s have been designed to “retrigger” each separate audio region at the proper time (based on incoming time code), which is a great way to maximize the potential effectiveness of trigger sync.