MIDI Interface recommendations

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th_ldu
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MIDI Interface recommendations

Post by th_ldu » 20 Mar 2013 11:56

Hi,

I'm sorry for that feeling of deja vu and I apologize in advance but I didn't find a clear and sure answer about this question.
I'm looking for a small and cheap USB MIDI interface compatible with Lemur. And I don't want to use MIDI connection by wifi. I want my synth(s) is (are) directly connected on my iPad.
I know that iConnect MIDI interfaces were recommended but it's impossible to find one in France now. And I think it's a little bit expensive for a MIDI interface if you compare to one for PC.
So does anyone have tried to connect a USB MIDI interface on a iPad camera connection kit (or similar) ? And have you had any problems with Sysex transmission between a synth and Lemur ?

THD

Joe Soap
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Re: MIDI Interface recommendations

Post by Joe Soap » 20 Mar 2013 15:34

I can't speak to the whole CCK+MIDI interface route, someone else with experience of this can chime in on that, but . . . you might want to investigate the SysEx requirements for your hardware and match those against the known limitations of Lemur SysEx handling.

th_ldu
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Joined:06 Nov 2012 15:43

Re: MIDI Interface recommendations

Post by th_ldu » 20 Mar 2013 18:02

I wish to work with these synths / drum machines (by priority order) :
DSI Evolver
Emu Pro-Cussion
Access Virus
Roland R8-m

And perhaps Doepfer Dark Energy if it's possible... but I don't know if it is.

Joe Soap
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Re: MIDI Interface recommendations

Post by Joe Soap » 20 Mar 2013 18:38

That's nice, but . . .

What I mean is Lemur has a few shortcomings / limitations that result in some longer SysEx messages getting truncated. Now, these can be mitigated somewhat by splitting the message into manageable chunks, storing those chunks in vectors (array / CSV list) and concatenating to reassemble the message . . . but quite apart from this being a PITA I don't believe it's the solution in every case.

Our resident SysEx expert would be Analog604 (Jay d'Espace)I guess - he's the man you really need to chime in on this. I know he has some DSI stuff in the User Lib already you may be able to use or build on for the Evolver . . . but also that he's put a lot of work on hold until Liine beg, borrow or steal the foresight to actually remove all the silly legacy limitations instead of just punting them up the line incrementally.

That all said - you can do a hell of a lot sans SysEx.

th_ldu
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Re: MIDI Interface recommendations

Post by th_ldu » 20 Mar 2013 23:35

Ok thanks for this "first" answer / approach. I understand a little bit more the problems that could happen.
But that don't answer about my question about the MIDI interfaces. I hope Analog604 will be able to help me about this. :-)

Joe Soap
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Re: MIDI Interface recommendations

Post by Joe Soap » 20 Mar 2013 23:54

Sure - I appreciate I didn't answer the question you asked, as such. But you're just looking for a generic MIDI interface, one that plays nice with SysEx - that information should be pretty easy to come by on the wider internet - it's not particularly Lemur-specific.

Given the number of devices you mentioned, and the possible routing configs you might want to play with I think the iConnect looks like a much better fit.

Is there any special reason you have to buy it from France? Is this like a Champagne thing? :mrgreen:

th_ldu
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Posts:15
Joined:06 Nov 2012 15:43

Re: MIDI Interface recommendations

Post by th_ldu » 21 Mar 2013 05:10

LOL
The reason is just that I live in France.
And I agree with you about the iConnect interface but it seems it's not possible to have one even on the company's website. The product is rated as "no longer available" and it's the same thing to find a dealer. And like iConnect interfaces were recommended on the Lemur manual and Liine website, I thought problems may happened with some other interfaces (cheap or not). I'd just want to prevent this.

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