M-Audio Profire 2626 MIDI cable?

D

dfackler

Member
Greetings!

I have the M-Audio Profire 2626 which is missing the breakout(WC, S/PDIF/MIDI) cable. These are so scarce as to be unobtainable. I'm reasonably sure that all M-Audio Firewire devices use this same cable.

I located the DB-15 pinout and have the S/PDIF sorted, but MIDI is frustrating me(no interest in WC). MIDI uses only pins 4,2 and 5. Simple, yes? So I cut a MIDI cable in half, planning to wire one end as MIDI IN and the other as MIDI OUT.

The issue is that when connected to my controller, the controller Power LED goes out and the controller(StudioLogic SL-990) goes dead. The issue appears to be in the cable, not my wiring as the same thing happens using either 'pigtail' connected to nothing(bare wires twisting in the wind...). A new factory cable works normally. It would follow that the 'pigtails' are bad; however, no shorts or open condition exists. I'm under the impression that a MIDI cable is just a cable, wired 'straight through', i e pin 5 on this end is pin 5 on the other and so forth.

Could my 'cut' cable have been bad? I suppose, but BOTH ends bad? Seems unlikely.

Thoroughly bumfuzzled. This should be simple.

Any guidance is appreciated, from 'you missed ______________' to wild things to try.

~df
 
Is the attached the pin out you have? You don't actually need 3 pins for MIDI as the signals are 'symetrical OOPs'. Naturally a screen is useful but I have sent MIDI over UTP network cable.

Dave.
 

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Thank you for the reply.

That's the pinout I used. The problem appears when the MIDI cable is plugged into the controller-- it's connected to nothing on the other end. The pinout isn't in play at this point. I think the next step is to sacrifice another factory MIDI cable.

~df
 
Probably a stupid question, but the DIN connector isn't the same pin arrangement as a 5 pin XLR. The pain with using audio through DIN cables years ago was that there were straight connected versions and reversed ones. When you went from one tape deck to another, you needed a reversed connection. This said, the fact that when you connect the cable the lights go out suggests a short. Oddly shorts in MIDI cables rarely do anything other than not work. You certain there's not a power rail on the DB connector that has been shorted somehow? I know you said you checked for open and short circuits, but is there any possibility you've connected a mirror image somehow?
 
Probably a question answered in Circuits 101, but when socket/plug terminals are identified is the drawing view from the “solder” or “pin” side? The “mirror image” question makes me wonder.

My DB has the screw-type terminal and the screws are numerically identified.

I’ll search through my stash today and see if there are any LEDs to test the MIDI at the sockets.

Thank you.
 
The shorting is solved. This MIDI cable has four wires and each is shielded individually. When I cut the unneeded wires, the shield made a tiny but significant connection to the conductor. The controller must have the “unused” pins connected to something allowing the short.

Complete isolation of the unused conductors/shields eliminated the short.

Now on to the actual MIDI hookup…

~df
 
Happy to report complete success!

S/PDIF and MIDI in both directions.

The Profire did require ground (DIN pin 3) connection on the MIDI OUT pigtail. Without that, no MIDI output at all.

~df
 
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