Different calibration times for Drums and Guitar

[MrNazraq]

Don't know if anyone else noticed this...

When I played the drums solo tour, I calibrated the lag to 55ms (both A/V and the other one).

Then I switched to the guitar tour and noticed that the lag wasn't quite right, so I calibrated again and the lag ended up being around 25ms.

I went back to drums, and again the lag wasn't quite right. Calibrated back to 55ms and seemed fine.

Why are there 2 different lag times for the different instruments? This would really mess up any local multi-player since you'd have only one instrument calibrated correctly at a time. Did anyone else notice this?

I got a replacement guitar (that works fine now). Should I also have them send for a replacement drum set?

[mastergamer1231]

that could really destroy performances,

unless online of course

[ugp]

I was having that same issues. I finally was able to get it down for both with one setting though. It just takes some time to get it just right. It took me about 5 tries...

[SoulScreme]

Well, the problem is that simply means you've calibrated it wrong. Let me explain what calibration does. In an HD TV it actually takes some time for the TV to process and display the signal from the console. Thus, for rhythm games, the picture and audio (which does not have this lag) are out of sync. Each TV is different, so you have manually set the amount of lag that exists.

So, you want a different amount of lag for different instrument. The issues is, that the lag has nothing to do with the instruments and is between the TV and console. Thus, if you are having trouble it is likely due to the lag being calibrated improperly or the fact that you may be naturally slow or fast on one or both of the instruments, something that is not the point of lag calibration.

[MrNazraq]

Well, the problem is that simply means you've calibrated it wrong. Let me explain what calibration does. In an HD TV it actually takes some time for the TV to process and display the signal from the console. Thus, for rhythm games, the picture and audio (which does not have this lag) are out of sync. Each TV is different, so you have manually set the amount of lag that exists.

So, you want a different amount of lag for different instrument. The issues is, that the lag has nothing to do with the instruments and is between the TV and console. Thus, if you are having trouble it is likely due to the lag being calibrated improperly or the fact that you may be naturally slow or fast on one or both of the instruments, something that is not the point of lag calibration.

I am aware that the lag shouldn't have anything to do with the instruments, and that is why I'm writing this thread. The thing is, they should have the same lag times, but they don't. I have a feeling it's something with the drum set itself that causes an additional lag between the drums and the console.

When I decided that I had to re-calibrate was when I was playing a song. My wife was watching/listening to the song and also listening to when I was hitting the pads. In order to hit the pads for the game to register as the "right time," I would have to play off-beat to the music. (This was with the calibration settings of 20-25ms from guitar calibration)

Once I re-calibrated to 50-55ms, I could play the drums on-rhythm. But, if I play guitar with the 50-55ms lag settings, I feel that I'm also playing off-beat and have to calibrate again (Back to the 20-25ms settings).

Now, with the drums, there is feedback with the "thump" sound when you smack the pad. The guitar doesn't make a noise to let you know the timing of your note, so I admit it might be the way I play my guitar.

I just want to know if anyone else has experienced this and want to know if they figured out why it is.

[Axl]

I have the same issue. In fact, it's ruining band play for my friends and I. Part of the problem I'm having MIGHT stem from the fact that the first manual calibration test only clicks twice so I have only a split second to try to adjust it.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Right now, the setting that seems best for my drums is 50/60 and the one for guitar is 0/20. There's a huge difference. I've tried compromising by putting it to 50/20 and it seems to work ok for both in easy and most medium songs.

However, as the songs get harder and you're required to be more precise due to the high volume of notes, It's becoming more apparent that the lag calibration is going to keep my friends and I from being able to improve much beyond that without having to learn the wrong way (like strum too early so the drums can play normal and vice versa).

[Frederf]

While it's certainly possible that the instruments are not the same lag-wise, I would suggest a strong possibility that it would be the guitar use (especially if the alternative was the drums) since the guitar strum allows a lot of ambiguity between when you think you hit it to when the controller thinks you hit it.

All I can suggest is to set the drums right and let your brain figure out a new way to play the guitar over time.

[Pellakin]

I've noticed this a few times between the drums and guitar and it's pretty annoying.

It's most evident to me when I play the bass line, since that's often on a very similar beat as the drums and it's pretty evident when the "tap" on the pad and the drum beat are in sync, but I'm stepping all over my notes on the bass.

I've adjusted though - it's like others say - you might need to find the mid-point between the two instruments and play both of them "off" a little, or one off a lot with one in sync.

One thing to note too - I've noticed my Sony KDF-50E2000 LCD HDTV will often get out of sync over time...sometimes within the course of a few songs. I can either go back in and manually adjust the lag again (just makes the lag get progressively longer) or simply changing the input to "Cable" and back to my HDMI2 port works, as well. But I'm going to post that elsewhere in a thread that hasn't had action in a few weeks. :)

[jsully13]

I'm experiencing problems with the drum beats being off-sync with the music during certain songs when both the guitar and drums are present. The guitar appears to be fine, but the drums are off. I don't think calibration will help.

It was hard to nail down initially because it's not there on most of the songs (~90%). One song I've found specifically problematic is "Maps". I play this song almost flawlessly on solo, then when the guitar is added it's difficult for me to get above 85% because it's not on beat with the music. The drums have to be timed early (which is extremely hard to do because you have to ignore the song), but the guitar is fine. Mutliple poeple in my house have verified this and it's extremely frustrating.

Is anyone else having this issue??? Should I call Tech support?

[Keebler]

I've had the same problems before, but then I realized that whatever setup we had on drums was probably the most accurate, since we are actually banging along to the rhythm in the song. The problems with guitar could simply be from not lining up the scrolling notes with the target area correctly. The visualization is a bit different from the way GH had the target area set up.

[sporkBrigade]

With default setting, I used to believe there was a difference between my drums and guitar. Since then, I've started using the default Plasma settings, which offers a small correction for Audio/Video Lag, as in a lag between the audio and the display. Since then, timing seems perfect for both Guitar and Drums.

This would be my suggestion. Start playing with the lag offset option. It seems to me that it's VERY unlikely either controller can have an effect on lag. It is much more likely to be a difference in playing style, specifically a relience on Audio vs. Visual that exists more with one then the other. At least in my case, that's how it turned out.

[jsully13]

Keebler's post from http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=16274 helped me out. I'm no longer having problems...

[Xero314]

Don't know if anyone else noticed this...

When I played the drums solo tour, I calibrated the lag to 55ms (both A/V and the other one).

Then I switched to the guitar tour and noticed that the lag wasn't quite right, so I calibrated again and the lag ended up being around 25ms.

I went back to drums, and again the lag wasn't quite right. Calibrated back to 55ms and seemed fine.

Why are there 2 different lag times for the different instruments? This would really mess up any local multi-player since you'd have only one instrument calibrated correctly at a time. Did anyone else notice this?

I got a replacement guitar (that works fine now). Should I also have them send for a replacement drum set?

I have noticed the same thing, though I have found a setting that works reasonable for both. I this is happening on a 360 with a wired guitar then I can't think of any reason why this would be. For me it happens on the PS3 with a wireless guitar and I have always assumed this is do to the time required to process the wired signal, which may only be millseconds, but there has to be some overhead for the wireless, unless they built delay states into the other equipment to compensate.

If anyone is interesting in disecting their controllers I would be happy to help them build a circut we could use to test this. can be done with a single Microcontroller on a dual USB client board sending singles down both the wired and wireless connections to a client computer measuring the time the signals are received. This would prove definitively if there is an issue using wireless technology in a rythm game. I know for a fact GH3's Les Paul has horrible, so lets just be happy that RBs is not that bad.

[jfjohnny5]

Same problem here. Been driving me nuts for days. My AV Sync setting doesnt change, but I have to adjust the Input Lag for either drums or guitar. The real problem crops up during local multiplayer. Either the drummer or the guitarist can play accurately and comfortably, not both. Choosing a "middle ground" setting for input lag just frustrates both people for having to play "just a little off". Has anyone from Harmonix owned up to this issue? And this is with the wireless PS3 guitar. Any 360 users have this issue?