Quote Originally Posted by Neale View Post
If it steps on the wrong pulse edge, you effectively lose one step (microstep, in practice) on every direction change.
Just a minor correction. You actually lose 2 steps on the direction change, as the drive first moves one step in the wrong direction, so it takes another second step to get back to where it was before the direction change.

It's also worth noting that some drives (Leadshine in particular) require a relatively long direction setup time, which some controllers might not be able to do.