MIDI-DIN5-IN to USB->Out (Solved)

Using Zynthian
1

Hopefully I quick one :slight_smile:

I’m not able to send the MIDI DIN5-input (or MIDI usb in) to the MIDI usb output.

Read all posts related, tried many permutation to no avail.

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Setup Migration : I’ve been playing for a few years now with this setup and a few shows got cancelled in the weekend so I decided to finally take the time to integrate my ZynthianV5 in my setup saying goodbye to the awful (to my taste anyway) Aeros from SingularSound. Anywho, I have 4 days to make this work as previously.

My setup = few midi controllers (88 keys via DIN5, 88 keys via USB, nanoKontrol, etc).

My problem : The two midi controllers from the DIN-5 and USB (type A) do work perfectly with the zynthian Synths (Pianoteq, freeb3, etc) But I cannot for the life of me figure out how to send those two via the USB-typeB zynthian port. I am currently sniffing everything coming from the Zynthian USB and I do not get the notes I play. Tried cloning to midiChainThru, etc.

Any hints ?

2

Also, why can’t I find this interface (in pic related)

https://discourse.zynthian.org/uploads/default/original/2X/6/624e7cb340ee3b6fe24e2afc84515cf91bdeb8b4.jpeg

as found in OP here :

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Hi @PeterLuck . So lovely to meet you. I hope you will enjoy our wonderful community.

The USB Type B connection to a host is called “f MIDI”. I thought we had fixed this but maybe it is on development.

MIDI routing isn’t perfect in Zynthian yet. All MIDI input is merged and then split by channel to feed chains within Zynthian. There isn’t a natural through path (except for the physical thru on the DIN connectors). To pass MIDI through you need to create a MIDI chain which needs a processor. (This will change in a future version.) You can use the “MIDI Thru” plugin to avoid processing the MIDI.

Let us know if this works for your workflow.

4

Thanks for your help @riban,

I already tried a Midi Thru chain but did try it again.

Reset All → Add new Midi Chain Thru on channel 1…

In the chain MIDI routing everything is checked (Hardware and network)…

I see no event what soever on the output side.

5

In webconfig go to the Interface / MIDI options and select buton with … under Midi Ports

1 Like
6

Well I’ll be…

Still, I’m brute forcing my way checking one box or the other… to no avail. What am-I doing wrong here ‽

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Turns out you have to say “ok” in the dialog and then save at the bottom… :neutral_face: Newbie being a newbie.

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Hi @PeterLuck !

I just fixed a couple of bugs related with this in the testing branch. Update and test, please.

  • Now you should see the “USB MIDI” entries in the list of MIDI devices (capture & routing) from the chain options menu.

  • Also, “Bridge MIDI-OUT”, from the admin menu should work, but currently you have to specify the “enabled output ports” from the webconf, so perhaps you prefer to use chain routing. I plan to improve this by adding a MIDI-THRU option to the Main’s chain-options.

Regards!

3 Likes
11

Not quite solved yet… Sad though, I had it working just yesterday on stable…

Trying : http://de.gauthier.pl/pour/.zyn/connexions.pdf

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How is Bridge MIDI-OUT (from Admin > MIDI) supposed to be used ?

It seems to me that it replicates everything everywhere.

I’m trying to output to the DIN5-OUT only what is coming in from the USB type B connector.

To achieve this I tried :

  • Uncheck the Admin → MIDI → Bridge MIDI-OUT
  • Clean All
  • New midi chain → MIDI Thru → MIDI CH#10
  • In the MIDI Thru chain options → MIDI Capture checking OMNI - USB MIDI-IN
  • In the MIDI Thru chain options → MIDI Routing checking DIN-5 MIDI-OUT

But, no signal is going through the thru… :disappointed_relieved: :sob:

13

It should work. Is your testing SD image updated to the last?

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Yup. (well, I think so…)

### SOFTWARE
zyncoder: [testing (7ada795) ]
zynthian-ui: [testing (5d8b779)]
zynthian-sys: [testing (ad43f0a)]
zynthian-data: [testing (1321e5d)]
zynthian-webconf: [testing (1d12e3f)]

I’m using multiple MIDI-USB interface and qmidiroute instances to diagnose the problem…

Since you say that, I will brute force my way into every knob combination until it works. :plunger:

15

I will try to reproduce your use-case tomorrow.

Regards

16

Since the title of the thread is a bit confusing : We are talking now about setting up the Zythian in simple (but fancy) usb dongle with only a midi DIN-5 output .

i.e. to send MIDI from some host (USB-A) into the Zynthian USB-B to finaly the Zynthian DIN-5 Output.

17

Hi @PeterLuck !

I just tested and it worked for me. I followed these steps:

  • Create a MIDI chain with a MIDI-thru processor
  • From “Chain Options => MIDI capture”, check “USB MIDI-IN” and uncheck the rest.
  • From “Chain Options => MIDI routing”, check “DIN-5 MIDI-OUT”.

I connected the zynthian to my PC using the type-B connector and connected a second zynthian using the DIN-5 MIDI interface. It worked flawlessly.

Do you see the “zynthian” device from your PC when connecting the v5 using the USB type-B connector?

Regards,

2 Likes
18

I tried the reverse and didn’t have success, I
i.e. MIDI controller DIN-5 to Zynthian then Zynthian USB-B to host USB-A.

  • MIDI chain with MIDI Thru plugin CH5
  • MIDI Capture: ACTI - DIN-5
  • MIDI Routing: USB MIDI-OUT
19

I tried both with success. Are you using up-to-date testing?

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I made a second try with 2 zynthians V5, both updated to last testing branch.

The physical connections like this:

  • MIDI keyboard => V5-1
  • V5-1 DIN-5 MIDI-OUT => V5-2 DIN-5 MIDI-IN
  • V5-2 USB-typeB => V5-1 USB-typeA
  • V5-1 audio out => monitor speakers

Software Config:

  • V5-1 => MIDI chain in channel 7 with MIDI-THRU processor

    • capturing from the MIDI keyboard (ACTI)
    • routing to MIDI-OUT

  • V5-2 => MIDI chain in channel 3 with MIDI-THRU processor

    • capturing from the DIN-5 MIDI-IN (ACTI)
    • routing to USB-MIDI-OUT

  • V5-1 => Synth chain in chann3 with NozieMaker

    • capturing from USB MIDI-IN (ACTI)

It works perfectly except …
… the latency is horrible!! In the range of 50-100ms. But it’s quite normal given the number of jumps the MIDI messages takes to reach the synth from my hand playing the keyboard.

Anyway, i tested the type-B USB connection alone and the latency is quite high with this connection. I’m trying to understand why, but probably it’s buried in some deeper layer inside the kernel.

If someone have some idea about it …

Regards,

1 Like
21

1 Like
22

So, your honor,

  • In the webconf MIDI log interface : I am seeing the MIDI packages getting received by the Zynthian USB MIDI-In.
  • In the very same MIDI-Thru chain, if I activate the capture of the DIN5-Input (which happens to receive some data from a random keyboard) it does send the data to the DIN-5 Out.

Such a weird weird…