Hi, I am currently using rtp midi over wifi with my ipad to control cantabile. In the past I always had problems with the connection. I would prefer a USB connection. Does anyone use interfaces from iconnectivity. If so which? Can I directly connect an Ipad to the interfaces? Or, which solutions do you use? Thanks a lot
If youâll search the forum, there are several discussions about iConnect. @Torsten has provided quite a lot of detail about his âno wirelessâ iConnectivity setup.
I use a pair of iConnectivity USB/MIDI cables with a pair of back-to-back 5-pin DIN adapters between. Works perfectly.
I find it a bit odd that no-one sells a USB-to-USB âcrossoverâ cable.
Does that mean you are using the same adapter twice? I donât have a 5-pin DIN midi interface connected to the notebook. I have been using USB connections for years (Yamaha MODX8, RME Digiface, RME Baybface Pro).
No. Two cables, connected together using back-to-back DIN adapters - so I have a USB-A connector at both ends. One USB plug goes to the iPadâs camera kit and the other to the laptop.
Hm, so two pieces of for example MIO Midi to USB interfaces. Connected with DIN female to female adapters? Or did I understand that wrong?
mio â iConnectivity
âŁthe sssnake 1871 Adapter â Musikhaus Thomann
Yep, thatâs it.
Itâs not pretty, but it works. Using this Franken-cable I have created a MIDI Designer Pro Layout to give me complete control over Cantabile and my 8-input mixer Rack, complete with level meters and MCU compatibility.
And now Iâve added beat/measure indicators and cue countdowns.
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Yes, I already have your Midi Designer Pro layout installed on my iPad. This is great and I have already played with it. Iâm thinking about implementing it and using it for myself. Iâm also thinking of moving away from RTP midi and using a wired connection. By the way, have you already started to adapt the layout to the bidirectional bindings? Is there already a new version?
Iâve changed my all-singing mixer Rack to bi-di, but not the simplified one as yet, but I will. Iâll come back here and re-post them when theyâre ready.
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Great news! I am already looking forward to it. Thanks a lot!
Iâve got on with it and added bi-di to the Rack. Itâs actually only saved a few binding lines for the faders, but itâs bit more compact now. Youâll find it on another post.
Yes, I use the iConnectivity range in my setup - mostly mio2 and iConnect 2+ to connect my Cantabile PC and my (Windows) LivePrompter tablet with my two keyboards and my VoiceLive.
It works very nicely - you can route MIDI data between the PCs and your (DIN) MIDI Ports in a very flexible way. Just getting the routing done is a bit fiddly. The drivers are also a bit hit and miss - mostly works plug&play without having to install any drivers, but sometimes the routing utility doesnât see the interface, then drivers are needed.
I usually set a simple routing without any fancy channel filtering and then leave everything set, so I donât need to use the routing utility too often.
The old iConnect MIDI and mio devices are super-flexible in routing between two PCs, Macs or iOS Devices (only iConnect, not mio) via USB - you have four USB ports at both ends and can route between them, e.g. I use separate MIDI ports to send data between Cantabile and LivePrompter, other ports to work with my keyboards connected via DIN - all very convenient.
The bad news: these interfaces have been discontinued, so you may still get them on ebay, but not through regular channels.
With the new line-up (mio XM, mio XL), iConnectivity are changing their approach - they donât connect two âmasterâ devices via USB anymore - now they are focused on using network technology (RTP) to connect different devices. So now they expect you to connect additional devices via a network. With a mio XM, youâd probably connect your iPad via USB (Camera Connection Kit) and your PC via a network cable. You could even connect more PCs with a network switch connected to the mio.
All very powerful, but a lot more complicated than the old simple âtwo USB connectionsâ paradigm, so Iâm happy that I still have my âoldâ iConnect 2+ and mio 2s. A lot more fiddling with the new tech - Iâll probably buy a mio XM some time in the future to get a better understanding of the new setup, but itâs definitely more complex.
For your use case, maybe the easiest (and cheapest) solution would actually be to get a cheap USB MIDI interface for your PC, a separate iPad MIDI interface and simply connect them via DIN cables. Of course, that would limit your connection speed to the good old 31 kbit/s of the DIN connection, but for a control connection, that wouldnât be too badâŚ
Cheers,
Torsten