i need more MIDI I/O!

ive got more devices than the MPC 1k has MIDI I/O

what do you like to use to get more inputs and outputs? do boxes like the studio 4 work for this? are any MOTU MIDI pieces good without a computer?

thanks!

Yea, get something with like MOTUXT, with cloclworks so you can program it in a CPU to work as a standalone.
I have mine hooked up to a 4000 and it works perfect to give me more inputs and outputs.

tiger vomitt wrote:ive got more devices than the MPC 1k has MIDI I/O

what do you like to use to get more inputs and outputs? do boxes like the studio 4 work for this? are any MOTU MIDI pieces good without a computer?

thanks!

If you don't need more than 32 MIDI channels on output, it sounds like all you need is a MIDI splitter a.k.a. Thru box. The examples I'm familiar with are from Philip Rees in the UK: http://www.philrees.co.uk/products/thruunit.htm for examples and explanations. Not expensive.

If you need more than 32 MIDI channels, however, that's all the MPC1000 can send, so you're looking at a slave sequencer of some sort...

The opposite for inputs is a Merge box, which works like it sounds. Some powerful keyboards have Merge function on their MIDI inputs, you may be able to avoid buying more hardware. Or you could avoid the need for input MIDI from more than 2 external devices..?

thanks for the replies

i dont usually run more than 8 or 10 midi channels at once. my first thought was that i could just use the MIDI Thru's on the gear ive got... but i was hesitant becuase of midi slop and latency etc

any thoughts on that? is it just voodoo?

tiger vomitt wrote:thanks for the replies

i dont usually run more than 8 or 10 midi channels at once. my first thought was that i could just use the MIDI Thru's on the gear ive got... but i was hesitant becuase of midi slop and latency etc

any thoughts on that? is it just voodoo?

No, you're right about the slop, that's why I suggested a Thru box. It lets you "fan out" the connections, no looping from device to device to device = less slop.

yea, get the phillip rees v4 if you travel with the MPC, the v4 bounces one in to four outs and it doesn't need any battery or plug. very portable. indispensable little box.....

it's 220 volts, im in brooklyn. hmmm

they say i gotta call them to find out about international shipping, HA! i think an email should suffice...

the price seems right, 30 euros. better than $330 for a motu xt (no offense to aprim)

I use a M audio 3 x 8. Three inputs, 8 outputs.

$30

2nd the Maudio/MidiMan 3x8. Had it for years before upgrading to a Emagic AMT8.

Note: AVOID any box that splits/merges channels without any extra power (battery or plug). Without the extra power, you WILL end up with garbage & more slop on the MIDI bus, particularly when you do something important like a sysex command that has many bytes in a row.

If you are just chaining 2 pieces of gear, using the thru ports won't hurt you at all. Even 3 is still ok, but I wouldn't go beyond that. In this way, using the MPC's 2 outs you can slave 4-6 devices.

jksuperstar wrote:Note: AVOID any box that splits/merges channels without any extra power (battery or plug). Without the extra power, you WILL end up with garbage & more slop on the MIDI bus, particularly when you do something important like a sysex command that has many bytes in a row.

Prob. good policy, I'd go for a different model, though I think they do test the stuff before shipping.

P. Rees say they only ship PSUs in the UK & Ireland, so you would get your own from Radio Shack or whatever, but it sounds like the M Audio boxes would do the same job for less (€30 ~ $40). (I'm in Ireland, which is why I thought of them first.)