Rock Band 2 guitar calibration still broken on a CRT TV.

[Paratroopa1]

I posted about this problem a few weeks ago when I first got RB2. I'm using an RB1 guitar on a completely normal CRT TV that has never had lag calibration issues with any game in the past. The game was so horribly calibrated that it was unplayable to the point where I could not 5* Eye of the Tiger on guitar, despite the fact that FCing almost anything below a tier 6 in RB1 is not really a big deal (and the only song I haven't 5*ed is Thrasher). After messing with the manual calibration for the better part of the day, I got it to the point where it was at least sort of playable, but I wasn't really satisfied with it, it still felt odd.

Well, I thought I figured out the problem. I was using composite cables (red/white/yellow), a friend recommended that I try component cables instead (red/white/yellow/red/blue/green). That seemed to improve the lag, though it wasn't really perfect - but I convinced myself that was the problem because I was simply determined to consider the problem fixed and not worry about it again.

For the past few weeks I have focused almost entirely on drums, which work fine. If anything, they work better than in RB1, because my drumming has never been better, I've been getting better and better scores every day. I'm not sure if it's because I'm more inexperienced at drums so I don't notice but they appear to be calibrated fine. So I forgot about the problem for a while.

But today I went back to guitar, and it's still ridiculously unplayable. I switched between RB1 and RB2 and played a couple songs, here were the scores I got:

Electric Crown: 201k in RB1, 168k in RB2
B.Y.O.B.: 185k in RB1, 112k in RB2

This is a pretty huge difference. Anything fast is basically impossible to keep a combo on (the "Jordan bridge" sections of BYOB was the most eye-opening - I FCed all of them in RB1, but I never once kept a 4x combo in them in RB2), and even fairly basic parts like the choruses of BYOB I end up making uncharacteristic mistakes on.

Neither auto nor manual calibration really seems to get me very far. I think I can probably fix it a little bit, but because this problem seems to be exclusive to guitar, I'm really not sure this is the solution to the problem. Auto calibration always comes up with really messy results, so manual calibration seems to be the only way to go. But I'll never be able to get it perfect, like it is in RB1 on my plain CRT TV.

Does anyone have any clue why I'm having a problem with RB2 on guitar on a TV that has never once had a lag calibration problem? I'm willing to give anything a try at this point. I'd really like to test this with another guitar to see if the guitar's at fault, but I unfortunately don't own another guitar.

[dooby_mclean]

The same thing is happening to me. I just put RB1 in and I can play it fine, as well as GH3. I'm using the Xplorer controller from GH2, and I can't seem to fix the slight lag... It actually is fairly annoying. Unfortunately though, I don't have an answer. I've just tried different combos of Audio offset and Video offset, but I haven't come up with anything.

[Paratroopa1]

Glad to see I'm not the only one having this problem, then. I've just switched back to RB1 any time I want to play guitar, because playing it on RB2 is ridiculous.

[kingwoody1]

I have a nice LCD HDTV and it worked like a top with Rock Band 1. Now that I have Rock Band 2, I can't keep any of the rhythm parts going with a multiplier unless I get lucky for a few seconds. The solos are impossible with this issue and it's pissing me off.

It seems like I am messing with the calibration more than I'm actually playing the game, and it's to the point where I don't even want to play anymore; I'd rather just wait for Guitar Hero World Tour. When I calibrate it seems like its fine for a little while, but before long it gets all out of whack again and it's just ruining my whole experience.

Can someone offer me some assistance or at least your condolences, as this problem has taken this game from my favorite to my not going to play ever again list real quick. I want to fix this, please help me.

[Phane7]

Try adding 30ms to both audio and video from whatever settings were working in RB1. Some people have claimed that that worked for them.

[Paratroopa1]

I think I might've been the one who claimed that worked, haha. It's better than nothing, but it's not really accurate still. It's still inaccurate to the point where FCing any song becomes somewhat of a struggle. Regardless, any lag calibration, no matter how accurate, cannot possibly match the 100% responsiveness that 0 ms on a CRT TV should provide, so I'm trying to attack the problem more directly than just "calibrate the lag until it works." Not to mention that this only seems to be a problem with guitar, so lag calibration will probably break drums.

I really hope this isn't simply a matter of "most people use LCD/Plasma TVs now so we're not really going to bother making the game work properly on a CRT" because that's the sole reason I haven't bothered upgrading. Having a lag-free TV is just that crucial.

[Paratroopa1]

For some reason, 30/30 (as opposed to 0/0) makes it much easier to hit almost every part of Panic Attack (had like a score of 245k compared to 220k or something - both scores are awful though), but made me make a great deal more mistakes on the reoccurring riff that begins the song which I inexplicably FCed each time it appeared on 0/0.

It's really getting to the point where this makes no sense and my confidence in the game mechanics themselves are so shot that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to trust them again.

[Paratroopa1]

Still not working. The poor calibration especially stands out when I'm trying to do guitar/vocals and have to divide my attention.

[emdelrio]

I personally haven’t had any lag problems my CRT TV but I have noticed RB2 is a lot less forgiving in terms of the timeframe you have to hit a note. RB1 was criticized exactly for the opposite giving it the easiest Expert difficulty than any previous guitar game.

That coupled with any existing lag problem could make for a very difficult calibration.

[Paratroopa1]

I disagree. RB1's timing windows are, as far as I can tell, exactly the same as GH2's, and I believe RB1 and RB2's timing windows are identical, as well. This is in stark contrast to (the non-Harmonix-made, mind you) GH3, which has much more lenient timing windows.

[Paratroopa1]

Okay, this is ridiculous. I'm annoyed, I'm absolutely tired of playing a gimped game. I go back to RB1 every time I want to actually play, now. I need help. I can't believe that absolutely nobody knows anything about this issue. There HAS to be a solution. There is no excuse for this. I want an answer or I want a refund.

[hezeuschrist]

I think I'm in the same boat as you, but I honestly don't think it's a calibration issue. I've spent a grand amount of time trying to dink around with it getting it to where it's going to feel like RB1 (on my HDTV), and I can't find it.

I'm convinced it's not there. I believe the game just straight up plays differently than RB1, and there's nothing that can be done on our end to fix that. There's no reason any seasoned player should have any kind of trouble keeping a combo in Testify!

Here's my logic for this: I haven't played the drums in a long time, I live on the second floor of my apartment building so the kick pedal makes it a big no-no. I had a chance to stay in a house this past weekend all by myself, so I lugged all my gear to play on a CRT TV and get some drumming in. Main goal: 100% expert a song in RB1 and RB2. The song: Charlene. Attempts to get it in RB1: 3 (having never played it before). Attempts to get it in RB2: over a dozen. I JUST did it in RB1, so it shouldn't have taken me more than a few tries, right? It was just different. I also sucked at songs from RB1 in RB2, on a CRT, and yes, I set both games to 0/0 calibration.

I can't find anything to say otherwise, but I have found PLENTY of people having issues with calibration. I can't say for sure but with my experience in RB1 being nearly entirely on an HDTV, I figured it was just a calibration issue, but after playing on a CRT for a weekend and doing way worse in RB2 than I was doing in RB1, I'm convinced it's a game issue. Maybe not issue, just difference.

I even went out and bought the RB2 guitar so I could perfectly calibrate my HDTV, and it helped but I was still awful.

So here's a bump for your issue, because I think it's bigger than calibration.

Harmonix, is the game just different, or is this a calibration issue?

[Ron_Sly]

Seriously i'm to the point where i don't even enjoy playing the more difficult songs anymore because the lag is just so ridiculous..i don't understand why they wouldn't make it the same is RB1. I've been playing with 25/25 and it was alright at first, but now that to is just not working. So I don't know what to do. Hopefully someone will find a solution soon or I'm just gonna stick to Guitar Hero World Tour.

[Paratroopa1]

Good to see I'm not alone, thank you for the detailed response of your problem, I'm looking for any information I can get to try to put the pieces together. I think it'd be pretty strange that the game would simply "play differently" - I mean, when the whole game is about timing, you think the timing should be perfect. This shouldn't be an issue.

[xVaDeR]

I'm with you guys. On RB1, I barely remember having a problem with lag, now all of a sudden RB2 comes and it's Lag City. It's so bad the game is almost unplayable.

I also believe this is something bigger than calibration.

[shell0il]

I just got RB2 on the PS3 - first game I EVER pre-ordered. The calibration is just hopeless compared to RB1. Spent more time screwing with it that playing the game so far and when I do play it makes me want to throw my guitar through the TV screen!! 0/0 seems about the best I can get - this is with a rear projection DLP, but I had no issues with RB1. I gotta go now but will add more later. I hope someone at Harmonix is reading this. At this point I want a refund.

[Anthony_Metalhead]

Has HMX addressed this Lag/Calibration problem with RB2?

[gumby44744]

Glad I read this thread. Using a Toshiba CRT 34" at 720P and an HDMI connection directly to TV no amp/receiver in the mix to screw up timing. I just got the SE set with all the instruments. So far just been playing with the new guitar and thought I was loosing my mind. The new guitar has a mic and IR sensor built-in to do the auto calibration but when I let the system auto cal(-2 aud & +26 vid) it's way worse than leaving the settings at 0 and 0, tried to do a manual cal with the guitar controller but that's still not perfect either(-16 aud & -27 vid). Used the new guitar with RB1 and it plays just like the RB1 guitar in RB1, no problems, so it's not the controller. Used the RB1 guitar on RB2 same BS, out of sync. So I tried calibrating with the SIXAXIS on manual cal and it is closer to perfect...settings came out to -54 audio -23 video.

[shell0il]

I'm using the RB1 guitar, not the new one. PS3 is connected HDMI to TV (rear proj. DLP). Audio is passed thru the TV by digital coax to my Amp. All this calibrates just fine on RB1.
Some Q's for Harmonix:

Why is the calibration method so different between RB1 and RB2? The graphic indicators are not the same and the 2 numeric parameters are described differently. I prefer the RB1 method which seems more accurate. For one thing it emulates the actual game visuals better (i.e. a bar scrolling down the screen).
In RB2 calibration am I supposed to wait until I hear the note before strumming/tapping/pressing OR do I do this in time with the note?? I've tried both - at times both have given me a "couldn't calibrate" error. Resorting to entering values manually the best I got so far that at least allows me to play (but not well) is 0/0.

[xfixium]

TV: Toshiba Regza 42" 720p LCD
Interface: HDMI straight to T.V.

AAUUUGHH!!!! Well, I was pretty damn excited to get this game on Sunday, only to find out I'd be screwing with the calibration settings in frustration! The calibration was fine in RB1. So I thought I'd try those settings, it worked pretty decently, until I was trying to do something fast like hammer on/pull offs on BYOB, or running through Megadeath's Sleepwalker. A friend let me borrow his X360 and RB2 X360 version for 2 weeks before the PS3 release, and that thing played like a champ! I am really disappointed in the PS3 version thus far. I've messed with the calibration both manually and automatically for at least 2 hours to no avail. The old auto calibration worked so well for me on RB1.

[ragnar1917]

I spent a later part of the 19th (on release) frustrated to hell at the system. At 0/0 it felt "similar" and almost tuned the same as in RB1.

This all changed when I put my drums in. It was off-- badly off. I could synch to the drums, but the guitar was then off. There was no happy medium. Either I was 98-100% on drums with 84% on guitar or vice versa. I go back to RB1 and I can do the same song 98%+ first try.

Up until this thread I didnt see anything that addressed it. I even went and upgraded to the RB2 bundle. Nothing. I like the peripherals more, but it didnt fix anything. Even the autosynch throws it off.

[Paratroopa1]

Still no closer to finding a solution to this problem, though I'm interested to see I'm not the only one who seems to have the problem on only one instrument, and that at least one person is having the problem on a different instrument than I do (my sync problems are on guitar).

[Ron_Sly]

I'm on a panasonic CRT and the only thing that i can somewhat stand is 25/25. Maybe it'll help some of you, but still still nothing like RB1...HMX needs to do something about this...it's getting ridiculous

[ragnar1917]

Since all Customer Support filters through EA, I thought you guys would appreciate this bit of customer DISservice:

My initial entry: The drums are out of synch with the other instruments. This was NOT a problem in Rock Band 1.

Setup: 1080p television, PS3 (fully patched) with HDMI cables. All instruments are brand new and I have tried it with both the Rock Band 1 drum set and Rock Band 2 set.

Either we can synch the offset to the drums or synch it to the guitars but NOT BOTH. There is no support on your site regarding this.

Customer Service Reply:

Response (Ravi Kumar)
10/21/2008 11:57 AM

Hello David,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding your Rock Band purchase. It is always a pleasure to assist our customers in any way that we can.

Before proceeding with your item replacement process, please ensure that you have completed all the troubleshooting steps from the Rock Band Warranty website at http://rockbandservice.ea.com/.

If there is anything further that we can do for you, please don’t hesitate in contacting us. Additional support can be found on our help site located at http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/rockband.php.

Sincerely,
Ravi
Rock Band Support
Electronic Arts

My reply:
Ravi Kumar,

You did not even address anything I put in. This is not an RMA request. If you READ what I put in, this is happening on both the RB1 and RB2 drum sets. This is software related NOT HARDWARE so why would I want to RMA if thehardware is not defective.

Yes. I checked your site. Please see where I put in: "There is no support on your site regarding this."

Have YOU checked your site? Here is a screen shot of your Rock Band 2 support page.

What I did do is check your forums where YOUR CUSTOMERS have been posting regarding this and noticing that it is a known issue where the synch is off.

There is something further you can do for me: Get me your manager, on the phone. I am not going to spend a week with someone who is cutting and pasting answers that have nothing to do with my problem.

Sincerely displeased,
David Bobrosky


---

As a side note, I have worked Cust Service and if I was ever caught doing what this guy did, I'd have to sign a write-up. Outsourcing for the loss.

[Paratroopa1]

Replying with a somewhat condescending tone probably isn't going to help your case at all, though.

But based on the lack of support for this issue anywhere, ever, I'm guessing they know as much about the problem as we do. Nothing.

[ragnar1917]

You're likely right on the tone and the information.

I won't go on and defend the whys behind it, but I do want to speak to someone in customer service and get some real answers and a game of email tag diagnosing the wrong problem isn't going to help.

So far I've tried the settings on this post:
http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?p=447690#post447690

0/0
Auto Calibration (Which put me at 100/50)

The bottom line is that I have enough loyalty to the brand to wait this out til Christmas for the Devs to fix what they need to fix-- but it doesn't set well to drop $200 and be left in the dark. A simple "Known Issue-- Investigating. No ETA." is better than nothing at this point.

[DeckardB]

I just wanted to add my name to the list of people having this problem. I'm honestly somewhat relieved that I'm not the only one with this issue.

This is in regards to the guitar issues in the PS3 version of RockBand2.

For the past three days I've been messing with calibration settings, and I gotta say, I'm about ready to pull a Jimmy Hendrix on my guitar. I'm using the RockBand 1 instruments and I've tried calibrating with all instruments and the controller. Every time, I get the drums working perfectly, but no matter what, I can't get the guitar to work like it did in RockBand 1. I've gone back to RockBand1 to test it out, and I score considerably higher on the same songs in the first game. I've tried pretty much every combination of lag calibration settings to no avail.

I can't see this being a calibration issue anymore, there is something else going on here. As frustrated as I am right now, I'm not ready to demand any heads roll at Harmonix. I'm just sincerely hoping that Harmonix will acknowledge this issue officially and fix it in a timely manner. Given their track record, I suspect they will do the right thing. Fingers are crossed.

[Sebrun]

this is what we wound up doing for calibration:
http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93859

also our setting on RB2 are WAY lower than RB1 and everyone is playing better now. Our audio is 5 and video is set on 15 now.

[BriefCandles]

I cannot believe HMX is not responding to any of this. Saying, "yes, we changed calibration" doesn't fix anything. The company needs to tell us if it is going to fix this, either with a calibration system that works or ... I dunno.
Here's my thread on this: http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1473094

I have now officially spent MORE time trying to CALIBRATE the game than I have actually PLAYING it.

[stigmatica]

This is NOT a calibration issue... I've spent many hours trying to MAKE IT a calibration issue somehow, but it's just not... It's some kind of glitch... I havn't tried the guitar, but the drums are just as bad as you are describing here... I can get 5 Gold on several songs with Expert Drums in RB1 first try every time, even varying the lag settings by huge increments.... Not so in RB2.... I have also found that in the Drum trainer, the issue does not occur... It's only during songs....

Here's a video "proof" of the bug...

X87OR-Jwbd0

and here's my thread on the subject...
http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92685

[BriefCandles]

I, too, think it is now a software issue and not necessarily calibration with the dropping of notes. Just played "Fortunate Son" on bass which is mostly straight-forward beat (10-12 of same color notes in a row), so there's no way to mess it up unless you change your rhythm. Well, first half no problem, but then all of a sudden, without changing my tempo on the strum, it just started dropping notes left and right.

[Paratroopa1]

I have to apologize, I think I may have made a slight mistake in my diagnosis of this problem. I'm not 100% certain that the drums are, in fact, calibrated properly - I took a month off from drums (long story, unrelated to this problem) and when I tried them again today, I tried it on both 0/0 and 30/30 and the difference didn't seem that much. I got a 213k on Tom Sawyer OV on 30/30, and then a 210k on 0/0, I think 30/30 felt just a little better but the difference was surprisingly undramatic, which is not at all the case on guitar where 0/0 is flat out unplayable. I don't know if this is because my drums are already a bit unreliable to begin with, or because I'm much better at guitar and therefore more sensitive to it, I don't know.

This doesn't change the fact that I'm on a CRT TV that has never had calibration problems before and now I can't seem to calibrate it for RB2 at all. This is still a major issue, but I may have been slightly wrong about what the issue was.

Also, I'd like to point out that I'm talking about the 360 version of the game. I think it's interesting, when the PS3 version came out there was a great deal of renewed interest in this topic - the vast majority, if not all, of the people here seem to be having problems on the PS3 version. Just want to point out that I am on the 360 version - we may be having different problems altogether. Regardless, for all of us, this is not just an important issue, it's an absolutely crucial one. In a game that's about timing, you can't have the timing be wrong.

[Willard Hostile]

It's not just your CRT. My game is lagging to the point of unplayability on my plasma screen. And it seems to be getting worse.

It had been a while since I played Rock Band, so I assumed that my crappy performance while clearing RB2 was due to being out of practice. But then I threw in RB1 and tore up. So I've been spending the last 3 or 4 hours trying to get it right, but it's just not happening.

It's irking (heh, I said "irk") me to no end that I can barely pass "Gone Away" on RB2, but can gold star it on RB1.

[Willard Hostile]

Story so far... I am playing the xbox 360 version on my 40 inch 480p plasma screen, connected by HDMI(which never had, and still does not have any trouble with rock band 1). I got the stand alone game on release day, unlocked all songs on that same day. I noticed that my playing was a bit off, I chalked it up to being rusty, which really might have been, because the problem has gotten much worse. "Gone Away" is one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands, so I know the rhythm. Today I discovered that I could barely pass the song on expert. "WTF?" I say to myself, because I can't really be that bad.

I fudged around with the calibration and got nowhere. Next course of action: boot up RB1 and try the same song again. Smooth as buttah. It was like switching from Rock Band to GH III.

Seeing that I wasn't a craptastic plastic guitarist, I went back to RB2 and spent the next 4 hours fiddling with calibration (starting with the -85/25 that works perfectly with RB1) and various fake guitars (I'm a single dude who just came back from a deployment, so I have plenty of them lying around). I got close-ish, but still not good enough to not red-line at least twice in the song.

The last thing I tried was to switch over to my 26" CRT dinosaur. I zeroed out the calibration settings and... 100% Gold Star performance on the first go.

Now, it's all well and good that I can play the game on one of my TV'S, yippie for that, but I'm not throwing a bunch of people into the den to play a party game when I've got the good TV in the living room. I've got a few more experiments in mind, but they're all hardware based. They won't solve the problem of why I can't play the game with my current set-up. Hopefully Harmonix can take care of that one for me.

[DeckardB]

Well, after searching around this good old internets of ours, and consulting my friends who have bought this game, it would seem that we have good case for our issue here. My two local friends that have this game are having the same issue as me with the guitars being off. Unfortunately, they are not as web savvy and would not think to look online for troubleshooting help, or to just post their problem. I know this is not a large sampling of the RB2 population, but it seems that out of the 3 people I know that have this game, %100 of them have the same issue... well, that's not a good sign, is it?

I feel sorry for the people that I'm sure are having the issue, but don't know enough to post their problem/seek help. Probably a lot of people are blaming themselves as I first did upon encountering this issue. Damn it! It's such a good game! I just want to enjoy it instead of being frustrated all the time.

If it will help in diagnosing the problem, I can post all the technical details of my home theater setup.

[FaZt1]

Apparently nobody from 'tech support' visits the tech support forum? Seems to be a widespread issue with RB2 that hasn't been addressed. I'm having some sort of calibration issues, too. PS3 attached to Sony AV receiver via HDMI. Went through the calibration setting several times and can't seem to find the sweet spot.

Bought GHWT yesterday and that game's calibration is spot on. Rock Band 1 works flawlessly for me, too. Problem limited to RB2.

[Willard Hostile]

Picked up World Tour with my GH Tournament winnings last week. Funny thing is that works at 0/0 calibration on my plasma/HDMI set up. Rock Band 2 just got updated, so I'm about to see if they fixed our calibration problem.

[NEXYZ]

I am so glad I am not alone. Why would they fix something that was never broken? RB 1 played flawlessly for me, and I can NOT for the life of me find the magic number in RB 2.

42" Toshiba DLP / HD AV Component Cable / Xbox 360

The book says 80/60 for DLP tv's but I can tell it's still not spot on and it's starting to frustrate me to no end. Apparently this latest patch has made it worse too from what Harmonix said.

[thestig]

I have had GH3 for a while (PS3) and just got the Rock Band 2 bundle tonight. The calibration problem is REALLY driving me nuts. Oh, and as an added surprise, if the drums get bored, they just start picking things randomly. I'm guessing the green pad triggers randomly.
Kind of like a real drummer, actually.
Is Rock Band any good about fixing issues like this?

[emdelrio]

No update on this yet?

[emdelrio]

Guess not. Sad.

[h3dude]

I just wanted to add my input.

To start out, I play guitar on the PS3 version on a 50" Philips plasma.

I too have been struggling with the calibration. On songs I was doing extremely well in with RB1 I am not doing so well in RB2.

Also, as some have mentioned, the calibration screen in RB2 is a bit weird. Like everyone says... I've tried calibrating by hitting the button when I hear the tap and I've also tried to calibrate by anticipating when it will hit. On the other one I've tried to hit it when the arrow hit the green and I've tried to anticipate it.

I've been playing around with my own settings and it is not working.

Today I decided to get out RB1 again and try the songs I'm having problems with and the problem does not exist.

I've played around with the calibration so much in RB2 that I believe it is definitely a calibration problem. I have my calibration fixed in RB2 almost, but not quite enough. In songs that require constant strumming of the same notes, like in Move Along or When We Were Young, notes are missed and I'm not missing the strums, as proven today by using RB1.

This is not good. Help!

[DeckardB]

Just thought I'd bump the thread as I'm still having the problem. Basically, I've bought a game I can't really enjoy it. I'm using the RB1 drums, and they seem to be calibrated right on, but the RB1 guitars just have the same problem discussed earlier. Considering I play this game almost always in a group setting with people on the guitars, their (understandable) frustration impacts everybody's enjoyment. I'm at the point now where I feel like we should at least get some kind of official acknowledgment of this issue. I've been patient. I don't necessarily expect an immediate patch because as a programmer, I understand some of the hardships of tracking down issues that don't occur with all users. However, I do feel it's time for some acknowledgment. I've dropped quite a bit of money on this game, equipment, and wads of DLC, all of which cannot currently be enjoyed as intended.

[Sebrun]

We had a time getting our lag calibrated too but once we got it - well it stopped being a problem - but you cannot use 1 rb1 and 1 rb2 guitar they do not have the same lag so either use 2 old guitars or 2 new ones and then just do the manual adjustment like 20 times letting each person who is going to play (including the singer and drummer) do like 5 each then AVERAGE them and use that as a starting point for the manual calibration. then try it and purposely try to strum a little early and dead on and then a little late and if it is in the middle go with it - if not manually add or subtract a little from the lag setting it is annoying yes - and i agree it should not have to be so annoying and should have worked right when the game was released - BUT sadly it does not but we managed to get ours figured out and with a little time and effort hopefully everyone will - OR they will patch it :-) but we could not wait on a patch so we spent a few hours getting it done manually and as our score shows it was worth the effort.

[KDegra]

You guys definitely aren't alone. My GF and I played Rock Band 1 religiously, and loved it. Rock Band 2 comes out, and the calibration works fine for my drums. Her guitar is dropping notes left and right, and no matter how we fiddle with the calibraion, we can't get it right. We give GH-WT a shot since we can use our Rock Band instruments with it, calibrate them once, and they are perfect. So essentially, the Rock Band guitar works better in Guitar Hero than it does with its own game. Awesome.

[h3dude]

We still need help with this guitar dropping note issue!

[PurpleHaze]

I've just picked up RB2, as it was just released in the UK, and I am experiencing the same problems. The guitar gameplay in RB2 just doesn't feel right; not sure about drums, haven't really tried them yet.

I struggle to see how it can be a calibration issue though, as I specifically have a HD TV setup with as near to zero as possible audio and video delay, because audio/video synch issues are one of my pet hates. This setup worked fine with zero calibration values in GH2, and it also worked fine with zero calibration values in RB1. Therefore, it should work with zero calibration values in RB2, and yet it doesn't, it definitely feels 'wrong'.

It's ironic, because I actually spent some time on these forums trying to explain to others why they were getting these problems with GH2, and my explanation was later confirmed by Harmonix in their writeup of the new RB1 calibration settings. Yet now, RB2 doesn't work correctly for me, even though my setup shouldn't require any calibration at all. So, Harmonix, whatever you changed relating to this in RB2, please fix it.

For reference: I'm using an RB1 guitar with the 360 version of RB2, a plasma tv, and an external audio system.

[Papageno]

There's definitely something wrong with the calibration settings--for one thing, sometimes they change from one session to the next, and_nothing_ else about my setup has changed. Same TV, same cable connection, same Xbox 360 sound and video settings, same TV sound and video settings.

Even the auto-calibration is iffy (I have the RB2 wireless Stratocaster). Sometimes it gets it right and I'm off and playing-- other times it's "pants" as the Brits say.

[emdelrio]

I'd be happy just with some sort of acknowledgment on the issue. Even a "there's nothing wrong" response would calm me down a little.

We're being completely ignored here.

[PurpleHaze]

Well, just in case it helps anybody else, I think I've pretty much solved my problem.

First of all, I tried the RB2 calibrate options, but that threw the feeling out even further.

So, I figured I'd go back to RB1 for comparison. I've always used 0 for AV and 0 for lag in RB1, and that felt perfect. I therefore tried the RB1 calibration options, which I'd never had to use before, and found that they consistently returned around 10 for AV and 10 for lag. So, pretty close to my normal values, but slightly out.

I then went back to RB2, and did the audio calibration again, which resulted in 40. So, I manually reduced that by 10, down to 30, to match the difference between my RB1 normal value and calibrated value. I then ignored the video calibration, as that seems to be totally messed up in RB2, and instead manually set the video value to 30 as well, because I'm used to 0 delay between audio and video in RB1. And, to my relief, that actually feels about right now, close enough that it feels playable again anyway.

So, in summary: 0 AV and 0 lag in RB1 seems to match, for me at least, 30 audio and 30 video in RB2.

[michael30557]

I have the same problem. I'm using the rockband 1 guitar for ps2 on rockband 2 for ps3. Everytime I try to fc a solo or song i miss a bunch of notes. i know im hitting it at the right speed and rhythm, but the lag problem is way out of control. I have a CRT TV, I set the right lag delay and it's still the same. I NEED HELP!!!!

[michael30557]

update:

try turning on breakneck speed. when i turned it on i fc'ed the painkiller solo with 15 audio lag and 5 video lag on a crt tv.

[Fuzworth]

I got Rock Band 2 last month, and I'm still having this issue...I'm ranked 123rd on GHWT for Expert Guitar (5 star'd Satch Boogie), so I don't think it's a skill issue. I play Expert Guitar w/ Breakneck Speed on a CRT TV, on the Wii, using the GHWT Guitar...and I think the real problem is that the timing window seems to actually shift around at multiple points in almost every song (even easy songs)... if you get the calibration spot on for the painkiller solo, then you're going to have issues with a different (and probably much easier) part of the song. I can get my calibration to work perfectly for solos or perfectly for rhythm...but it seems like you just can't have it working for both...at least on most songs.
I'm pretty sure they didn't perfect calibration for guitar on breakneck speed, and it's incredibly frustrating.