Beatstep Pro x 2 in sync with Protools

I did not find the solution online but since I have it running really well, I feel I should share the method.

I bought my Beatstep pro a few months ago and I really liked it, however when it came time to run it in sync with Protools the latency was totally impossible, I then got a 2nd BSP and I had a situation on my hands. Just to make it clear, this is not a Beatstep problem, it is a midi over usb problem. There are many discussions about this on many platforms so I will not dwell on the matters of latency per say. I simply want to present a solution that allows me to have 2 beatsteps and Protools work in sample accurate sync using USAMO from Expert Sleepers.

First to sync two beatsteps (pro) without a DAW, no other gear needed.

1) take a clock output from the 1st one (using the dongle), set it to "int" & "cc".
2) Now connect the clock from BSP 1 to the clock input on BSP 2.
3) Set BSP 2 to "clock" & "cc"

You are set.

Now slaving them to Protools

1) Connect USAMO via midi cable to the midi input of Beatstep 1.
2) Start Protools with the usb cable going from the splitter provided with Beatstep to your PC. (Ignore midi/HUI error message on startup)
3) Change the setting on BSP 1 to "usb" & "MCU/HUI"

Protools settings

1) Install the USAMO plugin.
2) Create an instrument track and name it USAMO. Add the Usamo plugin to the track. Connect a jack cable from your audio interface to the usamo box. Select the same audio interface channel as output on the instrument track.
3) Go to setup/midi input devices and make sure both your audio interface and BSP is selected.
4) Go to setup/peripherals and set "MTC reader port" to your audio interface, mine is a Focusrite 18/20.
5) Stay in Peripherals and go to "Machine control". Select "Midi machine control master" and set it to your audio interface.
6) Go to "midi controllers" and select HUI, set "receive from" to your audio interface and "send to" to the USAMO track you created.
7) On the USAMO track, open the USAMO plugin and start the "Clock".

This is it, USAMO costs 100 EU and it works, it has taken me 2 weeks to work this out, It may very well be that some of the midi pros have this down already without a 2nd thought, however this post is for the ones that are struggling with this like I have for the past two weeks.

Feel free to point out to me if some of those settings are considered bad practice or simply not necessary, however I have tested this setup for the past couple of days after receiving some suggestions from Arturia which worked but only up to a point. I think it's a good thing to have this here in the MG database for people to look up.

More on this fantastic box: https://www.expert-sleepers.co.uk/usamo.html

I am a producer and I need Eurorack to be in perfect sync with my DAW, now I have rock solid sync that loads up every time and just works.

Interesting solution...but I wonder if it wouldn't have been a more direct solution to employ Silent Way/Volta/etc and a cheap, used multichannel audio interface (I use a MOTU 828 mkii for this...sort of obsolete, audio-wise, but great as a DC-coupled CV/gate/trig bidirectional interface) to just send clock pulses to one of the BSPs, then daisy-chain that one's 'clock out' to the second's 'clock in'? It seems more straightforward in practice, actually, plus it allows me to do trickery like using my Seeburg Select-a-rhythm as a master clock, with the intermediary of VERY tight bandpass filtering and a Truetone Time Bandit, sending the resulting pulses from that device to one of the 828's inputs. It's not 100% sample-accurate like the USAMO solution...but I've found over the years that when things become TOO precise, you're probably heading for the aural equivalent of the Uncanny Valley. The human hearing apparatus actually likes a little bit of "slop", as it makes things sound more like what we expect from live musicians.

Interesting solution...but I wonder if it wouldn't have been a more direct solution to employ Silent Way/Volta/etc and a cheap, used multichannel audio interface (I use a MOTU 828 mkii for this...sort of obsolete, audio-wise, but great as a DC-coupled CV/gate/trig bidirectional interface) to just send clock pulses to one of the BSPs, then daisy-chain that one's 'clock out' to the second's 'clock in'? It seems more straightforward in practice, actually, plus it allows me to do trickery like using my Seeburg Select-a-rhythm as a master clock, with the intermediary of VERY tight bandpass filtering and a Truetone Time Bandit, sending the resulting pulses from that device to one of the 828's inputs. It's not 100% sample-accurate like the USAMO solution...but I've found over the years that when things become TOO precise, you're probably heading for the aural equivalent of the Uncanny Valley. The human hearing apparatus actually likes a little bit of "slop", as it makes things sound more like what we expect from live musicians.
-- Lugia

Well it depends on the type of music you are making and how. The Motu is DC-coupled which is a huge plus. If you for example record the base live, drums and bass all in one run or even your Eurorack live performances in one take, you may feel you don't need the rest in perfect time and if you have a workaround the discrepancies in the timing, you may even rely very little on sync all together, even more reason to consider weather you really need a different solution, I guess.

I am a drummer and I like to track the drums last or at least late in the recording process. So to do that I need totally accurate performance from the system, it's hard enough to play in perfect time with a computer, and if the system is acting up you just can't deal with that.