old synths with editors

[Nelson Baboon]

i guess this is somewhat of a rhetorical question, in that i think i know the answer - but maybe there is an easy solution, or maybe i'm missing something.

old synth (waldorf q) with no usb port. I've owned one before and like to use an editor with it. But using an editor needs to have a direct connection to the computer, and i need to dig out my old midi interface for this. But then, it starts getting more complicated to connect using my mrcc - would have to go to the computer port, and hope that this works simultaneously with the editor. Not in the mood for frustrating attempts at setup right now.

Does anyone else have an old synth like this where they like to use a computer editor for the editing? For now, i'll use the front panel I guess.

[Nelson Baboon]

yeah. hell. works, but it's a pain. And the more devices that need a computer editor that i bring in (for example the midi hub), the more tenuous my brain's control of it all gets.

is there any chance that enhanced computer communication is possible in the future. hah - i'd like to sell these goddamn mio interfaces. i hate them. and i'd not like to have to rely on my DAW for routing.

1st world problems I guess. the mrcc has been a revelation.

[oldgearguy]

I've had very inconsistent results. Suggestion for testing fo the team - download MIDIQuest Demo and mess with that. It supports a lot of synths and does see the MRCC ports.

My test env - Waldorf XT connected to MRCC DIN port 5 for I and O. Routed PC to 5, port 5, routed DIN 5 to PC port 5.

However - yesterday, I had the MRCC powered up/connected to the Mac; downloaded and installed MIDQuest; no love - MIDIQuest would say 'no active MIDI port' no matter what I did to select things.

Today, powered up computer, MRCC off, tried a couple free utilities to play some notes/read CC messages, all good. Plugged the MRCC in, turned it on, MIDIQuest initially complained about no available MIDI ports. Selected MRCC-A port 5 for in, port 5 for out and it all seems to be working now. I'll try some other power on/off connected/unconnected scenarios and update this post as needed.

[Nelson Baboon]

i think it's relevant that the results weren't consistent. When that happens to me, it can sometimes be user error, but sometimes the hardware connections (not talking only about the mrcc per se) can be unstable.

What I don't want to do is spend hours getting this to work, but then boot it up a couple of days later and have to spend hours again figuring it all out.

I'd be curious as to whether these results are stable. I know you to be very thorough with this kind of thing.....

i would also imagine that if midiquest can see the xt, that isn't peculiar to midiquest vs other editors that work off sysex and din ports, and that other gear (besides the xt) would also work if it sends the same kind of info.

[oldgearguy]

yeah, it's weird in that in MQ, I can change cutoff and filter type, but not resonance when connected via the MRCC.
When connected with a USB <-> DIN cable (E-mu 1x1) I can edit cutoff and resonance, but not filter type.

EDIT -- 
the weirdness being able to edit some params and not others may be due to the demo version I'm using.  I saw something about only being able to edit 4 parameters each patch with the demo, so that may be the root of that problem.  The sysex/no sysex is still baffling though.
-- EDIT

Conversely, I could pull back a patch from the XT through the MRCC (so a successful sysex request/dump), but it wouldn't work via the direct cable.
Basically - a lot of variables to monitor and control (hw synth, MIDI connection, computer, software) and it's not 100% stable.

Note on/off,CC. messages - all good.  I can record and play back with a DAW through the MRCC all day long.


It's frustrating since it appears like it's user error or something unusual with the sw+hw combination.  I'm setting it aside for now and getting back to finishing my soldering project.

[Nelson Baboon]

i tried a similar setup to the above (except for a Q instead of xt, and the soundtower editor).

I cannot get communication with the editor going. I suppose i'll try experimenting more for a little while, but given that i can get it to work by connecting the Q to my midi interface, and then sending to the Q from the mrcc using the computer port, i'll defer back to that. I really don't want to use the midi interface, but it just looks inevitable.

[Dark Waves]

Rapidly failing detail memory will keep me from getting too specific on a similar situation involving an E-mu XL-7 Command Station and its legacy editor, E-loader, which I managed to install in Win 10 "compatibility mode' as it was made for Win XP (the USB drivers for the module wouldn't install no matter what I tried, being outdated, apparently).

Anyway, I needed the editor to install a way overdue OS update to the XL-7, which I did, and found it has other functions, like a MIDI monitor window, editor, etc. that I thought I'd try out.  To summarize (it's been a few weeks) when looking to connect the program to the device through the MRCC, I found that some ports would successfully load (regardless of the module being connected there or not) but most wouldn't.  If my DAW, Studio One, was loaded on the PC and was using the ports already, it seemed to take priority, so that none of the ports would connect, even though they all showed up as choices in the editor's dropdown selection list.

While it's something that would be nice to hammer out to work more consistently, it's not anything urgent.  Having wanted to get to the bottom of the problem, I wasn't even sure whether to start looking for help in this community, or with the DAW or E-mu communities, so that's why I'm just piggy backing on this thread, since it's already going, and seems like the common factor is the MRCC, which if correct, would still be good to know and resolve.  Updating the OS was one of. if not the, first SysEx operation through my MRCCs, or even at all, so as a non-power user I was mainly pleased it worked period.  As an aside, given my lack of experience (and confidence) with SysEx, I initially opted to connect the module to the MIDI ports of my Focusrite audio interface, for simplicity, but the cables wouldn't reach, so I daisy chained the Focusrite through other MRCC ports and routed to the E-mu on two others, and that all worked like a charm.  It was only later that the experimenting with various ports started.  As I said, there are more details I can't quite recall, but this covers the gist of the situation.