Midi controller for several units

[FrankD77]

Maybe a dumb question but I'm not a midi expert

I have several devices that can be edited via software like the 2101, voodu valve, quadra verb etc.

I've tried to daisy chain everything and it works but all devices have to be turned on.

I wanted to see if there was a midi switcher with one in 3-4 out but i only see midi thru boxes. Seeing it's a one way signal.(?) I guess those don't work ?

 

[rob aylestone]

A switcher would work fine if that is what you need. Midi thru was just how it worked. My racks never get turned off. If you have lots of midi gear, it was normal to use proper midi distribution. M-audio made some great devices. I have two 8x8 units, which appear in windows as sources and destinations, so you can select your midi outs to go to certain devices, or chains of devices. They also allow 8 different inputs. When i used mainly modules and synths for everything, they were essential. Midi chaining was fine but you had to be very careful with timing. Anything percussive at the end of a thru chain was always delayed, sometimes quite badly, plus, data corruption was always present. Stuck midi notes probably the worst one.

 

[Slouching Raymond]

Midi thru should be just an electrical buffer to regenerate the signal, without any processing delays.
If you have too many devices listening on the same chain, all that data has to jostle for space, which can mess up the timing.
I like the sound of Rob's 8x8 boxes.

 

[rob aylestone]

The snag is some MIDI devices take the MIDI in into the processor and there do the integration and splitting. A sort of software switch - usually on device that allow changes to what is sent to the MIDI thru, to make it a sort of MIDI out/thru combination. Filtering program changes, or limiting continuous controllers, or even selecting certain panel add ons, and sticking them out of the thru. I always thought ALL MIDI thru sockets were simply a mirror, then bought a Philip Rees MIDI box on ebay (having had the same thing 15 years ago) That was when I realised soft thru was very different. Luckily, there are few gizmos out there, but I am always wary. I used to have a Kawai piano synth that I suspect had a software thru - but never realised at the time.

 

[FrankD77]

Ordered a 4x4 switch for 40,00 that's doable