Recently, the folks from MOTU came out to Sweetwater to show us the new Digital Performer 2.7. This version of the best-selling software will be shipping by the time you read this and will be available as a free update for all registered DP 2.6 users. If you've been thinking about purchasing Digital Performer, upgrading to it, or crossgrading to it from another sequencer, this version gives you some pretty serious reasons to make the jump.

First and foremost, Digital Performer 2.7 is all about MIDI timing. It has several new features that now give it the highest editing precision and recording / playback accuracy ever achieved in a sequencer. We're the first to admit that we get a little skeptical when a manufacturer makes claims like this. But after seeing 2.7 in action, we were duly impressed. MOTU has pretty much put the whole MIDI timing accuracy debate to bed. Period.

PPQ resolution. Since MIDI sequencers were first invented, one of the basic specifications always used to evaluate and compare them is their PPQ timing resolution. PPQ stands for Parts Per Quarter Note, and it refers to the smallest unit of mensural time by which you can view and edit data. (Mensural refers to bars and beats, as apposed to minutes / seconds or SMPTE time code frames.) Early hardware sequencers like the venerable Linn 9000 drum machine had a 48 PPQ resolution. You could move a note by as little as 1/48th of a quarter note. Until now, Digital Performer has always had a PPQ resolution of 480 PPQ. (MOTU calls them ticks.) At this resolution, a quarter note equals 480 ticks, an eighth note equals 240 ticks and so on. In recent years, other sequencing products have offered 960 PPQ or even 1920 PPQ. But in every case, the PPQ resolution is fixed.

How about 2 trillion PPQ? The number that Digital Performer uses to store the location of each MIDI event is a 64-bit number, which can express a range of numbers up to over 8,000,000,000,000,000,000. Whew! That's a lot of zeros. Our first reaction was: Why would anyone want to edit MIDI with such big numbers? Check this out: MOTU has done something truly innovative and useful with this high degree of precision. It's called adjustable PPQ.

Adjustable PPQ display. Digital Performer now allows you to view and edit MIDI data at any PPQ resolution you want. As you can see in Figure 1, Digital Performer lets you choose from a list of standard PPQ resolutions, like 96, 384, 480, 960 or 1920. These timing resolutions are not just some sort of display trick: you're able to actually edit MIDI data at these resolutions. If you are a seasoned Digital Performer user, you are probably accustomed to working with 480 ticks per quarter note. Therefore, it would probably be easiest for you to stick with 480. But now you can add greater resolution to your editing by simply adding extra decimal places. For example, you could add four decimal places (480.0000) to produce ten thousand times the resolution of previous versions of Digital Performer! This level of precision lets you nudge MIDI notes by way less than one audio sample at either 44.1 or 48kHz. So MIDI data editing can now be more than sample-accurate.

What's maximum PPQ resolution? The maximum PPQ resolution you can choose is 10,000.0000 this lets you move a note by 0.0001 of a tick. In doing so, you've just nudged it by one one-hundred millionth of a quarter note! If you try this at home and feel that you can hear the difference, please call your shrink ASAP. But all kidding aside, the point here is that MOTU is giving us all the editing resolution we could possibly ever need. One of the best things about Digital Performer's adjustable PPQ is that data continues to be recorded and played with the maximum timing accuracy possible, regardless of the PPQ resolution you've chosen. For example, even if you've decided to work at 96 PPQ, data will be recorded and played just as accurately at 96 PPQ as it would at 9600 PPQ.

MTS (MIDI Time Stamping). Okay, so adjustable PPQ gives us a high degree of precision when viewing and editing MIDI data. But what about accuracy? Version 2.7 supports MOTU's new hardware-based timing technology called MIDI Time Stamping. Digital Performer automatically uses MTS with MOTU's new line of USB MIDI interfaces: the MIDI Timepiece AV-USB ($595 list), the MIDI Express XT-USB ($395), the Micro Express-USB ($295) and FastLane-USB ($69). (Call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer for your special Sweetwater pricing.) In fact, MOTU tells us that MTS already exists in every one of their USB interfaces since the day they began shipping. DP 2.7 automatically enables MTS as soon as it auto-detects a MOTU USB interface connected to the computer.

It's a USB thing. MOTU tells us that USB, with its increased bandwidth and other features, makes MTS possible. Together, MOTU's FastLane-USB and MTS deliver MIDI data with a timing accuracy of one millisecond or better. MOTU's rack-mountable interfaces (AV-, XT- and Micro-USB) feature an enhanced version of MTS that achieves a third of a millisecond timing accuracy. In other words, MIDI data will always be played or recorded within a third of a millisecond of when it is supposed to. Here's why: in these MOTU interfaces, MTS is accurate to within one MIDI byte, and the MIDI data rate is 31.25 kilobaud, or approximately three bytes per millisecond.

DP with MTS versus "the competition": MOTU tells us they did extensive testing to compare MTS with the only other similar system of this type. In their tests, MTS proved to be five times more accurate, as well as always accurate to within a 3rd of a millisecond. The competing product exhibited an inherent jitter of 1-2 milliseconds. Also, MOTU explained to us that MTS timing is applied to every note being recorded or played, whereas the other system only affects certain notes playing back under certain conditions involving quantized block chords. Clearly, if you want the absolute tightest MIDI timing you can get from your sequencer, 2.7 is the way to go.

MTS is easy to use with FreeMIDI or OMS. Perhaps the best thing about MTS is that using it couldn't be easier: Just install 2.7 and then plug in your MOTU USB MIDI interface. That's it! FreeMIDI automatically detects the interface and enables MTS. Way to go, MOTU! If you are using OMS instead of FreeMIDI, MOTU says that you'll still enjoy the same high degree of timing accuracy as long as you are using Digital Performer with a MOTU USB MIDI interface as described earlier 2.7 passes time stamping information through OMS to maintain MTS timing accuracy.

DP gets a Drum Editor. MOTU also showed us 2.7's new Drum Editor. MOTU clearly did their homework and has come up with a feature-laden, cool-looking editor to satisfy even the most demanding drum programmers out there. In addition to its sleek, stealth-bomber look and feel, this new window is full of tasty innovations, like independent, vertically resizeable rows for each drum note and a very cool insertion tool they call the Rhythm Brush. The Pattern tool lets you quickly insert common stylistic rhythmic patterns like "triangle" and "bongo". Need a triangle part? Choose the triangle pattern and insert the part with one swipe of the pattern tool.

Effects automation. Everything in 2.7's mixing environment can now be automated, including all effects parameters, muting and unmuting of tracks, bypassing and unbypassing effects, send levels, send mutes you name it and it can be automated on the fly in real time. MOTU really went over the top here. For example, MOTU has three different types of automation: Ramp, stair-step and discrete events. MOTU explained that their automation ramps are sample-accurate, not quantized to internal buffers. Therefore, Digital Performer ramps will always be ultra-smooth and not susceptible to zipper effects or other undesirable artifacts. Another thing we noticed is that automation data recorded in real time appears onscreen during recording. Slick!

Beat-based effects. As if these automation features weren't enough, Digital Performer also provides beat / tempo-based automation: For any appropriate effect parameter, you can lock it to the tempo of the sequence at any note duration you choose. You'll even find little note duration pop-up menus right in the plug-ins themselves. For example, with the new Stereo Delay plug-in, you can lock the left channel delay taps to triplet eighth notes while the right-hand delay tap is locked to straight sixteenth notes. We're talking ping-pong effects from Mars, folks! And they only take seconds to create. MOTU's Sonic Modulator plug-in has just taken on a whole new dimension, allowing you to independently assign each of its four LFOs to any beat value you want, assign them to Sonic Mod's pitch, amplitude, delay and filter modulators, and then combine them for some of the most advanced pulsating and rhythmic effects you've ever heard.

Mackie HUI SUPPORT. Topping off the list of DP's advanced automation features is complete support for the Mackie HUI, a fully automated control surface that features touch-sensitive motorized faders (drool!). MOTU showed us how you can call up plug-ins from the HUI, choose presets (on the fly, during recording, if you like), change effects parameters everything entirely from the HUI. HUI even supports Digital Performer's five different automation modes, which can be set individually per track: Overwrite, Touch, Latch, Trim Touch and Trim Latch. This is very thorough, extremely high-end integration with an industry-leading mixing control surface.

New plug-ins. MOTU has also revamped all of the MOTU Audio System plug-ins, giving them a whole new look and feel. And 2.7 now ships with over fifty (yes, that's 50!) realtime MIDI and audio effects. Our favorite is the new PreAmp-1 plug-in. Its deep red background, alien textures and sweeping bevels make us feel like we're sitting at the controls of (forgive the nerdy Trekkie reference) a Klingon battle cruiser! MOTU has added three new plug-ins in 2.7: A ring modulator, a new plug-in they call the MultiMode Filter, and a Stereo Delay. The Ring Modulator and MultiMode filter both feature sidechain inputs and MIDI control of their parameters for particularly powerful real-time control. In addition, several industry-leading plug-in developers recently announced new plug-ins for Digital Performer and its MAS native plug-in format.

Smoother audio editing during playback. The first thing we noticed when we started playing around with 2.7 is how much smoother it is when we made changes. You can do pretty much any non-destructive edit, from splicing and dicing audio regions to dragging around automation control points, and the music keeps playing smoothly with no interruptions. MOTU has clearly done some major work under the hood recently and the improvements are clearly evident in the overall feel of the program.

Find Tempo. Here's a powerful new feature for those of you who write music for picture: 2.7 has a cool new window called Find Tempo. Just type in a tempo range and it will find the tempo that best hits all of the locked markers in your sequence. You can Assign any amount of "slop" to each hit, and you can even assign a 'weight' to each marker in terms of its importance. And the window operates interactively with you, continuously recalculating tempos as you change the search parameters or make adjustments to the markers in your sequence. If you work to picture, this one feature alone could save you countless hours!

G4 support. Digital Performer 2.7 has been extensively tested on all of Apple's new G4 Power Macs even the new "Sawtooth motherboard" machines and MOTU reports that it is 100% compatible. Combine DP with MOTU's 2408, 1224 and 24i hard disk recording systems, which are also 100% compatible, and MOTU's new USB MIDI interfaces and you've got yourself an absolutely smokin' system. MOTU is once again demonstrating their leadership as an Apple Developer with this level of compatibility right out of the gate with Apple's latest machines.

Digital Performer 2.7 has dozens of other enhancements, too. As you can see, MOTU is once again on a roll! Don't miss these significant advancements in audio sequencing. Call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer for details and special pricing (including crossgrades) today!