CME new MIDI Bluetooth connectors

Hi All,

I saw where these came out as an improved line of products this year and if they are stable it would be very cool for cleaning some of the cables up.

Cheers,

Dave

2 Likes

Thanks for the info Dave, but considering my experiences with bluetooth, they would have to prove there are no dropouts and signal delay. There have been several companies in recent years boast no delays our dropouts, but not true, and out of business now. Wireless would be nice, for sure, but it’s gonna have to be on another format than bluetooth. The last bluetooth upgrade changed very little. I tested several new devices about 18 months ago, for some bandmates who were throwing money to the wind, and they all sucked. Just my 2 cents…but again, thanks for the info. Maybe someday… :wink:

CME claim as low as 3ms added latency. Sounds very impressive, but I’m skeptical of this. The real test would be jitter latency that I consider more important for playability. It would be interesting to see some round-trip MIDI latency jitter tests under conditions of wi-fi interference, physical obstructions and long distances. CME claim their bluetooth products are good up to 20 meters (probably perfect conditions). Still it’s worth looking into. I do like the idea of wireless if it can be made as robust as cables. Technology keeps improving.

My Casio PX5S, Roland A30, and Yamaha Reface all can be run on batteries. The thought of running my keyboards completely without any MIDI and power cables is very attractive. It would speed up setup and tear-down times and get rid of a bunch of spaghetti wires at my feet. I’ll have to do more research on the latest bluetooth choices out there. But for now, I’m sticking to good old cables that have proven cheap & reliable for my setup.

1 Like

That would be a definite plus! The last bluetooth I tested also claimed 3ms latency and 15 ft connection. I can only imagine what dropouts would do on a run up the keyboard, lol! Kinda like a terrible phone connection. I really hope they have made advances to make this happen. I understand it only receives midi signals, but will not send, as DIN cables do.

1 Like

I tried Widi Master with Midiberry windows app and Cantabile. No issues to report.

2 Likes

I purchased a Yamaha MD-BT01. It was so solid, responsive and reliable, I purchased another one to associate as a launcher for tracks on my iPad. My son saw the setup, and liked it. So…I bought another one for him. He is using it with Cubasis and is able to record in time with the Cubasis click without any problems.

Some report and inability to connect to Windows, but this is due to their neglecting to use the MIDIberry app for windows to make use of BLE. Your device (iPad or Windows) must support BT 4.0 or later.

I would never buy any 5 Pin Din BT connector other than the MD-BT01, nevertheless. There are videos on this device spanning a few years. Current firmware is 7. Not sure what needed fixing from v3 to v7 but I upgraded anyway, after purchase.

Tested it on Akai MPD26, Yamaha Motif Classic 7, SL88, Yamaha Montage, works perfectly on all of these.

2 Likes

My experience is the entirely opposite. I found the Yamaha a PITA and replaced it with the CME - much easier to live with.

1 Like

You are truly in good company, indeed!

1 Like