DT can't trigger the Akai XR20

Hello Folks. I want to trigger my akai xr20 over Midi with my DT. But it dosen’t work. My Settings schould be ok. I test the Midi Out and In via Ableton. I can trigger the xr20 over Ableton with the DT when I go over my Midi Interface. The settings of the Machines are not changed for the Test Does anyone have a DT and an Akai XR 20 running together?

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@tm313, welcome to the forum.

Are you just using a simple MIDI cable between the DT MIDI out and XR20 MIDI in?

Is MIDI OUT PORT FUNCT set to MIDI + USB? MIDI ? or just USB?

from the manual:

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Hello Adam.
I use one Midi Cable. I Set all to MIDI. I tried different Cables and Settings.

the usual stuff…

on the midi channel on DT , have you gone through each midi channel out ? (1 to 16)

eg
press track Midi A
goto midi channel , hold func , press midi channel encoder so that it changes from a box to a number , set to 1 , press encoder ?
and tried any notes , chrromatic mode etc.

have you got digitakt triggering any other external midi device ? with midi out from Midi socket A on DT .

if you send sync from digitakt , does it start a seq on xr20 ?

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I seem to remember the DT midi notes not lining up with notes on some old Yamaha gear I had. I had to offset the notes by an octave or two I believe. Maybe it’s the same issue.

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Yes. I do all these Settings right. I can trigger other Gear with these Settings. The Midi Monitor says it works perfectly.
The XR20 reseves nothing from the DT, no clock, no notes. Clock and Notes from Ableton works fine with XR.

just to check connections , can you get xr20 sending note/tempo to Digitakt ?

seems weird but its probably a tick box in a menu somewhere.

Yes. The XR can trigger and clock the DT. No Problems. I checked the Manual of the XR. The Settings must be right. It is really weird.

are any DT parameters set to zero ?

velocity ?
gate length ?
track muted ? (try a new clean track , check quick mute , pattern mute or whatever the different versions of mute are ).
try a brand new project.
things like that ?.

Yes. I do all these things. I also installed the latest Firmware twice.

Im having the same issue as well. Have you gotten it to wok yet ?

Gonna pull out my xr20 and connect it to my dt today, let you guys know the results later.

Old thread, but has anyone been able to send note data to the XR-20 via midi from the Digitakt? I have the same problem as the OP. Digitakt can sequence any of my other gear via midi, and I can trigger the XR via from other sequencers (keystep pro, etc), just not the Digitakt.

I’d love to know what the incompatibility is and if there are any workarounds.

What settings have you made in the XR20’s SYSTEM SETUP mode?

What MIDI note numbers have you set the XR20’s pads to?

Are you using any MIDI Note maps on the XR20?

Note numbers in the XR20 are 36 to 47 and notes are C1 to B1 chromatically.

Not using any midi note maps but I did try changing that setting.

I’ve got the XR20 working with all my other sequencers, just not the Digitakt. To verify the Digitakt is sending midi I hooked it up to a synth and it works fine. Same cable too.

I have also tried playing every note on the Digitakt just to verify that I wasn’t out of the required range. XR20 won’t receive clock from Digitakt either. It’s like it’s not even connected.

This connection isn’t essential but it would be fun to get working. I’m going through my old gear and found an XR20!

There can occasionally be unusual compatibility problems between gear, but this should be a simple case to test:

Connections:
DT MIDI Out to XR MIDI In using a working MIDI cable

On the DT, ensure:

  • OUT PORT FUNC is set to “MIDI” and OUTPUT TO is set to “MIDI” in the SETTINGS > MIDI CONFIG > PORT CONFIG menu, and
  • both CLOCK SEND and TRANSPORT SEND are activated in the SETTINGS > MIDI CONFIG > SYNC menu.

On the XR:

  • set CLOCK IN to “ON” and ensure that you press SAVE while still in the SYSTEM SETUP menu.
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Thanks for the response and suggestions. No luck. I even hooked up the Digitakt to Midi-OX to verify what was being transmitted. Notes and channel were correct.

To further verify I hooked the XR20 up to the Keystep Pro and used one of the note-tracks (not drum). Worked fine with the same channel and notes the Digitakt were sending.

For some reason, the Digitakt DOES NOT work with the XR20.

Anyway, not the end of the world for sure, but I do wish I knew what the problem was specifically.

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