A: Consider this - the cable that connects from the GK-2A to the GR-1 has 13 pins, so the internal sound source of the GR-1 tracks very quickly. A MIDI cable only has two pins connected, so many messages must wait in line and therefore will take longer to get down the MIDI cord. Turning BEND to OFF will cut down on the amount of MIDI messages the GR-1 will have to transmit and therefore possibly the waiting time.