midi interface and midi keyboard?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ollie99
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ollie99

ollie99

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Hi, so once I have convinced my self that I can get good results with the equipment I have, I would like to expand my capabilities to the world of MIDI. This will not be in the near future because after I buy the headphones I want I will have no money.

So first problem. I own 3 different interfaces, non of which have MIDI in/outs so that will be my first buy. After a quick bit of searching I found the Alesis - iO2 Express 24 Bit USB Audio Midi Recording Interface for around £80. would this be a good thing to get? (bearing in mind I wont be buying anything drastic in a long while).

next, the midi keyboard. I have had a keyboard which my parents bought ages ago which I recently discovered was MIDI enabled. It is the Yamaha PSR-602 which you cannot even buy new anymore. would this be okay to use? My other option obviously is to get a new one and looking at the prices 25 keys is the maximum. One decent looking one I found was the Prodipe 25C 25-Key USB Midi Keyboard Controller P-KEY25C for around £65. Would this be a good thing to get? (once again bearing in mind I wont be buying anything drastic in a long while.

any help is appreciated :)
 
A few things.

If the keyboard you have has midi I/O then it'd be fine to use with a new interface.


The keyboard you talked about buying uses USB rather than the old 5pin, so if you bought that you wouldn't need an interface with MIDI I/O.

Either pick up an interface with midi I/O for your current keyboard,
Or leave your interface alone and get a USB midi keyboard.


Now there's a third option but I have not tested it first hand, so pinch of salt and all that.

You could use your current interface, and buy a USB to MIDI adapter for your current keyboard.
You can get those for about £5.
You'd wanna get confirmation from someone that they work well, but it looks like a good option at the minute.

Hope that helps.
 
okay so, when using a midi keyboard, what are the usual advantages from some than others? other than the number of keys obviously.

so basically another view of your 3 options:
1. buy a new interface with MIDI I/O.
2. buy a usb MIDI keyboard.
3. buy a usb to MIDI adapter.

Well I just really dont want to be held back at all if I use the keyboard I already have, so I just need to know the answer to my question above. If it really doesnt matter and the number of keys is about 90% what matters and someone confirms option 3 then that will be what I go for
 
I'm not a huge midi user, but as far as I'm concerned, the number of keys, and touch sensitivity is all that matters to me.

Test your current keyboard out to see if it's loud/quiet and when tap/bang the keys.
If so, you're good to go.

I think the selling point with a lot of modern midi keyboards is that they'll have knobs and faders that can be used to control DAW parameters.

If that doesn't bother you then the adapter might be a good job.

I use a yamaha clavinova as a midi keyboard. Overkill, right? :p
 
yamaha clavinova - electric piano???

yeap I'm definitely sure the touch sensitivity is good :)
so that means an adapter should be it. All I need is someone to confirm it for me. :) Ill look into it though as well
 
Yeah, that's the one man. It has midi I/O :)

Kick ass. A quick google should tell you, but I'm pretty sure this is what they're for.
 
thats impressive :)

So i just did a quick google and I'm confused. You said I can use my current interface but all the adaptors I can find are all to go straight into a usb port. does this mean I dont need an interface at all?
 
Audio is completely separate from Midi.
I know some audio interfaces have midi IO, but that's just to confuse us. lol.


If you want to record anything with a mic or line input, that's what your interface is for.
Also, if you want to hear what's happening, your interface does that.

Although the midi keyboard will be coming through USB, it's still just data, and you'd use it along side your interface.
 
oh yes that does make sense. Right back off to google to check the reliability! :D
 
I will, they seem to be okay so looks like that'll be my buy.
my main concern is though, how does midi work in terms of the actual recording? Ill explain more. My interface driver come up on ableton and I select them and thats that, do I need to do anything like that for the keyboard?
 
Yeah, I don't know Ableton, but in most DAWs you'll have some kind of audio hardware menu, and a separate midi hardware menu.

You'd select the usb adapter under your midi preferences.

The computer won't 'know' you have a Yamaha PSR-602; It'll just see MIDI-USB adapter.
 
WAAAIIIT!
just looking through all the different ones I can find, none of them say they are compatible with windows 7?? only XP, vista and MAC OS. it doesnt say that it wont work with windows 7 but will it?
 
looks like you'll be waiting a while for feedback though - standard delivery is 7-23 days! there are no other options
 
Steenamaroo said:
Now there's a third option but I have not tested it first hand, so pinch of salt and all that.

You could use your current interface, and buy a USB to MIDI adapter for your current keyboard.
You can get those for about £5.
You'd wanna get confirmation from someone that they work well, but it looks like a good option at the minute.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

I've got one for my Roland Juno-Di synth and it works great so far! Had it about 5 months. I have this one: Amazon.com: USB MIDI Cable Converter PC to Music Keyboard Window Win Vista XP, Mac OS: Computers & Accessories
 
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