USB Host ports virtual In/out = 4/1

[Joris Röling]

Thanks Jesse, really appreciated!

Just heard in the very long, but good 'Conductive Labs MRCC Live Stream for Synthesthesia 2021' video, that your collegues Steve and Daryl think very highly of you :-)

[uncleage]

Another device I'm eager to get my hands on, is the Electra One (https://electra.one)
This device has 2 IN and 2 OUT virtual cables over USB.
It would really help me if the MRCC would support something better than 1 OUT virtual cables over USB.

Thanks for posting this, it looks tasty 

[Joris Röling]

Just received the MRCC (as backer 39) here in The Netherlands. Very Happy.

But I'm a tat sad, as I was hoping the USB Host out (1x) would have been 'upped' to 4 by now. Not so (yet), but I keep hoping it might change...

From the manual: "All the MRCC’s USB HOST ports (A, B, C & D) each support four inbound “virtual cables” and one outbound."

[Jesse Johannesen]

Congrats Joris,
So the the USB host ports are x4, they are labeled A-D. The PC port is the only one that is just one port, however it does support 12 virtual MIDI connections so that you can route MIDI to up to 192 different MIDI channels! This allows you to connect to multiple Standalone Virtual Synths, DAWs, or route that MIDI anywhere you like, really. To route to one of the "virtual wires" as they are called, you select the source you are routing from and press it's routing button, then you press and hold the PC ports button and select which of the virtual wires you want it to go via the 12 output buttons which will now be lit white. The routed port will then be lit blue. when you release the PC port button the 12 output port lights will go back to normal and no longer display virtual wire routing. Think of this as a sub-menu for the PC port.

Let me know if you need any assistance as you go forward, either here on the forum or via email at support@conductivelabs.com, where I check for messages more often.

Talk soon,
Jesse

[Joris Röling]

Congrats Joris,
So the the USB host ports are x4, they are labeled A-D. The PC port is the only one that is just one port, however it does support 12 virtual MIDI connections so that you can route MIDI to up to 192 different MIDI channels! This allows you to connect to multiple Standalone Virtual Synths, DAWs, or route that MIDI anywhere you like, really. To route to one of the "virtual wires" as they are called, you select the source you are routing from and press it's routing button, then you press and hold the PC ports button and select which of the virtual wires you want it to go via the 12 output buttons which will now be lit white. The routed port will then be lit blue. when you release the PC port button the 12 output port lights will go back to normal and no longer display virtual wire routing. Think of this as a sub-menu for the PC port.

Let me know if you need any assistance as you go forward, either here on the forum or via email at support@conductivelabs.com, where I check for messages more often.

Talk soon,
Jesse

Hi Jesse, yes I do get this x4 (labeled A-D) virtual cable in USB Host, but only on the IN (!) side, the OUT side of these same port and virtual cables are x1, and I am sad about that side.

[Jesse Johannesen]

Congrats Joris,
So the the USB host ports are x4, they are labeled A-D. The PC port is the only one that is just one port, however it does support 12 virtual MIDI connections so that you can route MIDI to up to 192 different MIDI channels! This allows you to connect to multiple Standalone Virtual Synths, DAWs, or route that MIDI anywhere you like, really. To route to one of the "virtual wires" as they are called, you select the source you are routing from and press it's routing button, then you press and hold the PC ports button and select which of the virtual wires you want it to go via the 12 output buttons which will now be lit white. The routed port will then be lit blue. when you release the PC port button the 12 output port lights will go back to normal and no longer display virtual wire routing. Think of this as a sub-menu for the PC port.

Let me know if you need any assistance as you go forward, either here on the forum or via email at support@conductivelabs.com, where I check for messages more often.

Talk soon,
Jesse

Hi Jesse, yes I do get this x4 (labeled A-D) virtual cable in USB Host, but only on the IN (!) side, the OUT side of these same port and virtual cables are x1, and I am sad about that side.

Oh yes, that is correct. I see what you mean. The thing is that most devices that you hook up via that port won't ever offer the possibility of more than one virtual port either way, (we currently know of 2 devices that do and on is the NDLR) so it didn't seem like much of a priority. If you know of more devices where that might be useful go ahead and let me know and I'll see if that is an area where functionality may have the possibility to expand. 
Jesse

[ilmai]

Just to give a +1 on this, I also have the Midihub and would very much like to get 4 virtual I/O ports between the MRCC and Midihub

[Dark Waves]

A +1 here, too, as I have a couple of Midihubs. Not sure how well the two devices would integrate, but would be cool if they did. I had thought about using a DIN pair to share a path between the MRCC and Midihub, we'll see, just setting up the new toy now.

[Dark Waves]

[Wrote the following in August of 2021 and just found the draft...don't know why it didn't ever get posted, but figured better late than never to have it on record.]

Looking over this again, and summarizing a bit, I figure 3 things would need to happen for the MRCC and MidiHub integration to be more or less fully successful, and for the record I don't have high expectations on this as it's a pretty tall order.

1 - The MRCC host ports would have to be 4x4, over the current 4x1.
2 - Whatever USB communications magic that needs to happen for both devices to respond to each other has to be engineered.
3 - The MRCC would have to pass more than just MIDI data from the PC to the MidiHub and back.

On this last point, one of the key elements of MidiHub is the setup and control functionality on the software editor.  It's true, once programmed, a MidiHub can be taken out into the wild and used with presets stored in it, without the presence of a PC, however for studio use, experimentation with its modifiers (which is its core differentiator) would be done with it online.  It has no facility to control or edit on the box itself.  Having recently established that my keyboard controller, the Novation 61SL mk3, works fine over USB through the MRCC for routing MIDI data, but doesn't communicate with its companion editor software the way it does when connected directly to the PC, it seems likely neither will a MidiHub.  There's still the possibility of connecting a MidiHub to a PC and routing to and from the MRCC via the virtual ports, which so far in my experience requires tracks in a DAW to be set to send and receive MIDI data to devices.  I'm only just making headway with this scenario using an MRCC in Studio One, it will take some more aggravation, I mean fun experimentation, to see if I can get both devices swapping signals through the DAW.

[Darryl]

MIDI control apps that use MIDI to communicate between the computer and device typically work with MIDI routers like MRCC. Those apps let you select the MIDI port to communicate with the device.

If they use USB to detect and communicate with the device, they won't work since the device has enumerated with the MRCC instead of the computer. Those apps are often using a proprietary custom hid interface or serial to communicate between the device and apps.