Toggling MIDI Output Port "Sync" button from... Elsewhere ?

I like my Arturia Keystep 37 very much, but one detail annoys me to no end: the toggle only offers two positions - arpeggiator and sequencer. So, if it receives sync, it is either an arpeggiator or sequencer - not a keyboard that doesn't play automatically. That toggle should have three positions - the third being "None".

Two workarounds exist, and both are adequate and annoying: setting the clock source jumpers to "Internal" - or not sending sync to the keyboard, by disabling the "Sync" button in the MIDI Output Ports configuration, visible in the screenshot below (stolen from Akai) documentation.



None of those clumsy workarounds are acceptable for quickly switching from playing a live part to an arpeggiated part or to a sequence from the keyboard.

So, in my dreams, there would be a way to toggle Sync on/off for a given MIDI Output Port, from an external MIDI message.

I'm 99% certain that no such exists but, being annoyed, I'm taking the long shot and post here anyway, in case a miracle occurs...

Otherwise, I'll keep using it across USB but feed it clock from DIN over a cable on which I'll hack a switch on MIDI pin 5...

If you have some programming experience, you could use the RK-002 Smart MIDI Cable to filter MIDI clock messages dynamically. A simpler approach would be to use the CME U2MIDI Pro, creating Preset 1 with filtered MIDI clock and Preset 2 without filtering, and then switch between these presets using CC or Program Change messages.

Good idea - I hadn't thought of that. I have a CME U6 MIDI Pro lying around - and it has filtering and presets, but alas no physical button to toggle them, which the CME H2MIDI Pro indeed does.

So yes, the CME H2MIDI Pro seems like the simplest clean way to achieve my goal.

But 46€ makes butchering a MIDI DIN cable by inserting a leftover switch on pin 5 a very tempting alternative.

Jean-Marc Liotier wrote:Good idea - I hadn't thought of that. I have a CME U6 MIDI Pro lying around - and it has filtering and presets, but alas no physical button to toggle them.

There is a button on the U6 for switching presets, right next to the USB C input on the side.

Indeed there is a button. Alas it is about 900 kilometers away from me at the moment. I didn't remember it, as I never used it - when it was in operation, it was buried in a spaghetti dish of cables behind my instruments.



But the CME U6MIDI Pro's manual doesn't mention preset switching as a function of that button:

2.Button

With the power on, quickly press the button, and the U6MIDI
Pro will send "all notes off" messages of all 16 MIDI channels
per output ports. This will eliminate unexpected long notes
from external devices.

In the power-on state, press and hold the button for more
than 5 seconds and then release, the U6MIDI Pro will be
reset to the factory default state.

I'll check what it does, when I'm back to where it is - in a couple of weeks.

Jean-Marc Liotier wrote:But the CME U6MIDI Pro's manual doesn't mention preset switching as a function of that button:

There's an option in the UxTools software to change the buttons function. Either 'Send Panic' or 'Change Preset'. Page 21 in the UxTools manual:

https://www.cme-pro.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/UxMIDI-Tools-user-manual_English_v09.pdf

Jean-Marc Liotier wrote: but alas no physical button to toggle them

You can switch presets using MIDI CC or PC messages, even without a physical button.

Elijah wrote:You can switch presets using MIDI CC or PC messages, even without a physical button.

Yes, but that is another moving part. I would rather not turn my music setup into another telco network systems administration job.

Against all odds, I'm actually keeping under control my urge to add nodes to systems and enjoy the combinatorial explosion of protocols with everything talking to everything. A plug & play music system is a sign of my recovered sanity !

But, of course, technically you are correct.