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MIDI interface


Peter

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If you are connecting via MIDI ports alone you don't need any interface.

 

Just hook the MIDI OUT on the XW to the MIDI IN on whatever instrument you wish to control and daisy chain them down the line.  Then set each slave device to the appropriate MIDI channel and Bob's yer uncle...

 

If your slave devices have only USB ports then you still don't need a MIDI Interface.  In that case you hook everything up to your computer and use MIDI Routing Software or your DAW to direct the output of the XW to the other modules.
 

One caveat.  I believe the XW is not capable of addressing both MIDI ports and USB port at the same time.  It's an either/or situation.

 

If you require MIDI Routing software there are a few free ones out on the net for Windows.

 

http://www.kvraudio.com/product/midi-patchbay-by-soundigy

 

 

http://www.midiox.com/

 

 

(Select MIDI Yoke)

 

 

http://midirouter.sourceforge.net/

 

 

The only instance where you would use a MIDISport 4X4 or 2X2 is where you have a device with no USB port and wish to connect it to a modern PC.

 

There's also the Kenton USB MIDI Host which you'd use in the special case of wanting to connect a USB only device to another device which is MIDI Only.  But totally unnecessary in the case of the XW.

 

http://www.kentonuk.com/products/items/utilities/usb-host.shtml

 

Gary ;)

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I want to control more than one instrument with the XW's sequencer. What kind of midi interface do I need? Is the M-audio midisport 4x4/2x2 good enough? I want to connect everything with standard MIDI cables. 

I use the MIDI Solutions Quadra Thru box. $50.  Not all of my gear has a MIDI thru  or "soft" thru via the MIDI out so the MIDI kind of dead ends. So with this you go from the XW's MIDI OUT into the MIDI IN of the box, then just connect the THRUs on the box to the MIDI IN of the rest of your gear. 

qth.jpg

If you need more THRUS, Kenton is making a ridiculous box with 25 MIDI thrus. I think it's $150.

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One caveat.  I believe the XW is not capable of addressing both MIDI ports and USB port at the same time.  It's an either/or situation.

 

 

I thought I had read the opposite of this. I guess I should check my source, but I have been reading so much about the XW's over the last few weeks I cannot recall where the reference was, so take this with a grain of salt. If I come across the reference again I will come back and update my post (of course if I HAD an XW I could easily check, but that wont happen until Christmas.  :(

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I seem to recall you can set output to MIDI or USB but not both at the same time in the menu.  I'll check later when I get a chance, but unlike my Kurzweil which can direct output to any combination of local/MIDI/USB I believe menu options on the Casio are limited to either or when it comes to MIDI/USB.

 

Gary ;)

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My bad.  I just checked and there are separate MIDIoutsel toggles for both MIDI and USB so both should work simultaneously, though I don't actually have anything hooked up to the MIDI port ATM.

 

Peter >>>  While my daisy chain suggestion would work it does run the risk of introducing lag into the chain.

 

For lagless operation Scott's Quadra Thru would probably give superior results.

 

Gary )

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Guys, thanks a lot ! I learned something today  :lol:

Since my sledge doesn't have MIDI through, I will search for that  Quadra Thru box.

And, Gary, I think you are right about the XW using either MIDI or USB. My microbrute is connected via MIDI, and IS WORKING, but the sledge is connected with usb and it doesn't even receive MIDI clock (the onboard arpeggiorator doesn't work when connected). 

 

 Cheers  B)

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My bad.  I just checked and there are separate MIDIoutsel toggles for both MIDI and USB so both should work simultaneously, though I don't actually have anything hooked up to the MIDI port ATM.

 

 

And it works ??? I went through every menu related to midi in the XW, but it doesn't send anything via USB. Both USB ports are "B" ports, and since I didn't found any "B-B" USB cables, I used two "A-B" cables and connected them with a USB joiner. A bit awkward. But now it's not important. I will search for the Quadra.

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NO NO NO NO NO!!!

 

Disconnect the USB KLUDGE RIGHT AWAY!!!

 

The Keyboards do NOT have MIDI HOST capability!  They are meant to connect to the computer ONLY thru an  AB Cable!~!!

 

Here's how I have my keyboards routed.

 

Using the computer with MIDI Routing Software THIS should work.

 

flowchart_MIDI_USB_routing.jpg

 

DISCONNECT THE KEYBOARD TO KEYBOARD USB CABLE RIGHT AWAY BEFORE YOU BLOW THEM OUT!!!

 

Gary ;)

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Don't worry I disconnected them a long time ago. But thanks for the advice, another thing learned today :)

I definitely need a list named "Thing that blow up your music gear", since I succesfully blewd up my old amp few years ago  :wacko:

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Here's a proper wiring diagram for your setup.

 

The microbrute will not show up on the MIDI Routing software but it will be controlled by the XW's MIDI Menus.

 

With this setup you will still need the MIDI YOKE Routing Software in order to see the Sledge.

 

 

 

post-14-0-70168100-1445558565.jpg

 

 

Gary ;)

 

 

 

post-14-0-70168100-1445558565_thumb.jpg

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One other thing.

 

The diagram I drew up for you would work even better with the Microbrute directly hooked up to the computer via USB instead of MIDI to the Casio.

 

That way you'd have total mouse control over all of the routing.

 

To make this work in a DAW simply assign each instrument to a track and activate them individually or simultaneously to get some interesting layering effects.

 

That's pretty much my usual workflow when I'm composing my own tracks.

 

Gary ;)

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Good to know  :) Maybe in the far future I'll consider getting a nice workstation like the Kronos. But now I'm thinking about getting a Blofeld. As I read the specs, it offers a lot for the price. How do you like yours? Do you tweak it a lot? Is it easy to make sounds or you use an editor software ?

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I have a couple of freeware editors for the Blofeld.  Knob twiddling with the analog filters gets some amazing results.

 

I'm not that great at creating patches though, but with the machines in my rack I already have an incredible palette to choose from.

 

I can usually find the sound I need from the stock patches in my machines.

 

Here's a screen dump of one of my old works to give an idea of what I meant about cloning tracks and activating them as layers.

 

 

post-14-0-83483600-1445560574.jpg

 

Gary ;)

 

post-14-0-83483600-1445560574_thumb.jpg

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I don't bother with CAD programs.

 

I do them up fast and dirty with a simple Linux Paint program.

 

Kolourpaint by name.

 

I've found most CAD programs to be too complicated and overkill for simple flow charts and block diagrams.

 

You could probably achieve the same results with MSpaint.

 

Gary ;)

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