Play in Time with Everything
DMC60 keeps its clock in step with the rest of your setup. Run it standalone and sync to other apps and devices over the network with Ableton Link, or load it in a DAW and follow the host transport.
Ableton Link
Ableton Link keeps tempo, beat, and phase in sync across apps and devices on the same local network — no cables, no clock master to pick. Start Link on DMC60 and it joins the shared session: every participant agrees on the tempo, and their bars line up. Nudge the tempo on any device and everyone follows.
Enable it from preferences. Once on, DMC60 shows how many Link peers are connected so you know the session is live. Link is a standalone feature — inside a DAW the host owns transport, so use Host Sync (below) there instead.
DMC60 aligns to the session's shared timeline on the bar (quantum), so a pattern you start drops in on the downbeat with the other apps.
Peers find each other automatically on the network. There is no master and no MIDI clock to route — turn it on and play.
Jam DMC60 alongside Ableton Live, another laptop, an iPad running a Link app, or a groovebox that speaks Link — all locked to the same tempo and downbeat. Everyone can start and stop on their own; the beat stays common.
Host Sync
When DMC60 runs as a plugin, a Host Sync toggle lets it follow the DAW transport — play, stop, song position, and tempo — so patterns line up with your arrangement and render in place. Turn it off to run DMC60 on its own clock while the host plays, handy for jamming a beat over a project without committing to the timeline.
Standalone, syncing to other apps or devices? Use Ableton Link. Loaded in a DAW and want DMC60 to line up with the project? Use Host Sync. In both cases the tempo you see on DMC60 is the tempo of the session it is following.