interesting observation

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mux
 
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interesting observation

Post by mux »

Holas,

Ok - something I've noticed that is a little troubling:

If the x0xb0x does not receive a strong enough MIDI signal, it will drift out of sync or even stop suddenly.

I'm using a MIDIMAN THRU 1x4 through box, with the MIDI output of an MPC1000 going to the input, and the four ouputs attached to a x0xb0x, Korg ER-1, Waldorf Pulse+ and a Nord Micro Modular. My testing shows:

- If I connect the x0xb0x to the Thru 1x4 box, the tempo loses sync after a few bars, or sometimes the sequencer will stop after a few bars.

- If I connect the x0xb0x to the MIDI Thru on the Korg ER-1, there is no such problem.

...just an observation so far. :) Next test is to try feeding the Thru 1x4 a 9vDC power source, to see if that helps. I suspect it will, but it's good to know that the x0x apparently doesn't like weak MIDI signals...

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tsheets
 
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Post by tsheets »

Mux, you are using a jankity old midi thru box as the hearbeat to your whole live set?

You really need to pick up a MIDI patchbay.. like a Digital Music Corp MX-8. Works magic for our live rig. Need to filter out the note info of your MIDI sync source, and then merge it with the notes of a controller keyboard to send it to a third synth? No problem!

highly recommended... cheap on the used market.

-troy

mux
 
Posts: 47
Joined: Sat May 28, 2005 11:28 pm

Post by mux »

tsheets wrote:Mux, you are using a jankity old midi thru box as the hearbeat to your whole live set?
Hell yeah! I've been using it for years, and this is the first time I've ever seen a problem. In fact, I've owned three of them, and still own (and use, and often daisy-chain) two of them - rock-solid little metal boxes, these are. :)

I've looked into MIDI patchbays, but I've never seen a good reason to spend $350 on something that's easily solved with a $35 passive MIDI thru box. :) Anyway - these boxes can also be active MIDI thrus if you just plug in the power... I haven't ever had a reason to before.

"jankity old midi thru box". HARUMPH! :lol:

memology
 
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Post by memology »

Aren't all MIDI thru boxes active? ie there's no such thing as a passive thru box. I thought the ones without battery or power supply got their power from the midi master source in the same way that phantom power is used for microphones - so maybe the MPC1000 isn't outputting enough oomph for MIDI signals to three slave devices. Try using a battery or power on your thru box.

Laztvoyage
 

Post by Laztvoyage »

well a passive split is possible, i build one with one "in" and four "outs" 10 or so years ago and a friend of mine is still using it fine. depends on the device strength i guess, but he has a shitty gameport midi cable and it splits to a akai sampler and a few synths with no problem. i wouldnt gig with it tho. you never know.

mux
 
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Joined: Sat May 28, 2005 11:28 pm

Post by mux »

memology: you're totally right, it does get power from the MIDI connection. There's a little green LED that lights up (albiet halfheartedly) when there's a connection to the MIDI in on the thru box. A "passive' thru box would technically be a splitter, while this is a true 'multi-thru'.

Sadly, I noticed tonight that my x0x was exhibiting the same problem again (ie, hit play on the MPC, and the x0x starts playing, but stops dead at step 4, 6, or 8), even though the Thru box had a good strong 9vDC adapter powering it. I don't understand why - connecting the x0x to the second MIDI output of the MPC1000 seemed to fix the problem.

This already bit me once at a live show... well, it didn't stop, but it definitely lost sync. I haven't gotten back the recordings from that set yet, so I don't know exactly what happened, I just remember it not sounding sync'd at all. Has anyone else seen these symptoms?

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