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USB midi keyboard to 5-pin DIN? With no iPad?
For portability sake I would like to occasionally be able to grab my Korg nanoKey 2 and play an older midi sound module that only has 5-pin DIN midi ports.
Is there something I can use to convert USB to 5 pin? I think it would have to act as a tiny USB host right? Any way to do this without a phone in the middle?
Comments
Extra peice of equipment, but it's small.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MIDIExpand?adpos=1o2&creative=55226083081&device=t&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CNTV74myscwCFQqKaQodtooO7A
^^ Above solution is cheaper and smaller
http://www.kentonuk.com/products/items/utilities/usb-host.shtml
Nearly £100 though
vv Not sure the below would work as it is not a usb host, the usb connector is meant to be plugged into a USB host. I'd ask someone to confirm is these work in the way you want it to.
You need something like this
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/890781-REG/Roland_um_one_mk2_UM_ONE_USB_MIDI_Interface_MK2.html
There's a lot of similar products about.
YOU'RE RIGHT! WHAT WAS I THINKING???
No, no and no!
Have you actually tried those experiments? Especially the last one (although if you did, you probably can’t read this through the smoke).
Maybe a used android phone would be more useful , don't know about the latency on v5.x but on 4.3 is noticeable .
This stuff is so funny, eh?
@anickt and @AndyPlankton provide good solutions above. The short explanation is that "USB MIDI" on a keyboard controller can only use a straight USB A to USB B cable (like a printer cable), not the converter device that Bianca suggests.
No, not even that. The Korg keyboard is a USB device not a USB host. The computer, phone or tablet is a host (with the exception of OTG, but never mind that for now).
The Kenton and Keith McMillen devices are suitable (but expensive) as they’ll act as the host for the USB device (the keyboard) and send out midi. I don’t see a problem with those.
The Roland one can’t work in this scenario, as it is intended to plug into a USB port on a host. Where would you plug the Roland Type A USB plug into?
The last one, though, stop immediately! That connects the current loop of midi, to the +Ve and earth of the USB Type A plug or socket, of which you’ll find on a computer. There’s no data transfer in that circuit, just power from the computer’s own power bus, directly across the MIDI port (which may or may not be opto - isolated).
^ yep, exactly what I mean :-)
Does the Keith McMillen device work with any USB device, not just their own?
One alternative I'm considering is the Yamaha MD-BT01. I'm thinking when the Korg nanoKey Studio comes out I could go nanoKey > Bluetooth to iPhone > Bluetooth to md-bt01 > Midi din.
But that has me using my phone again. And two hops over Bluetooth. Too much latency?
Sidebar, I realize but dammit: the 'professional' MIDI keyboard controller of 2016 should also serve as a USB host so that one can convert all of these clever little inexpensive USB MIDI only devices into honest to god electricity.
I think it should be the sound modules acting as host. So you can hook all your little inexpensive controllers straight in.
But then every module/manufacturer would have to incorporate USB MIDI. A modern pro MIDI controller should have two DIN midi outputs and allow a USB hub to be plugged into it. There are a few midi interfaces that allow for this (ICM4, Akai EIE16, an m-audio...) but it hasn't landed in a midi controller yet.
Bought it, but it didn't work, and I'm returning it. I should have read the description, which states clearly that it only works with KMI USB midi controllers.
As far as I can tell the Kenton is the only device in the world that can do this, and it is super expensive for what I was prepared to spend??
Damn! I'm sorry for the bad recommendation buddy. I assumed it worked with all controllers.
Totally agree!
Have you looked into the iConnectMIDI 2? That should do it (and a lot of other stuff). Full disclosure: I don't own one! Lots of folks here do though. I do own the iConnectAudio 4 and it will happily convert a USB MIDI signal into a DIN MIDI signal without being connect to an iOS device. You need to use the computer (or iOS) to configure it first though.
Also, if you have the time & skills, there are a few Arduino and rPI hacks out there that can do this for less than off-the-shelf devices.