[Kickstarter] MRCC (Midi Routing Control Center)

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

MRCC Provisional TECH SPECs

  • I/O - 11 in x 21 out routable and filtered MIDI ports
  • Message filters - clock, note on/off, CC, prog change, & Stop/Start/Continue
  • Mappings - velocity scaling, channel, & 16 PC virtual cables
  • Tools - save/load presets, MIDI routing tests for all ports and channels, & Visual MIDI monitors
  • And more - MIDI CC control for MRCC, CV Clock Out, CC LFOs, “Light Show” mode & algorithmic MIDI note modifiers. Details to follow as development progresses.

The OLED screen, navigation buttons and encoder are intended to "future proof“ the MRCC. We will monitor the MIDI 2.0 spec, and as features are adopted by the industry we wish to provide FW updates where possible.

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Kenton Interchanger -- Smart MIDI Patch Bay
Blokas Midihub
Crowdfunding — The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
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Blokas Midihub
#2

I subscribe to this project !
Just have to wait now
:slight_smile:

2 Likes
#3

This is very nice as far ask as it goes. It’s ginormous! And it has both USB host and device. And having it rackmountable is a good idea.

As far as midi processing goes they’re a little vague. The ks page says this, i repeat what is in op for emphasis:

Message filters - clock, note on/off, CC, prog change, & Stop/Start/Continue
Mappings - velocity scaling, channel, & 16 PC virtual cables
And more - MIDI CC control for MRCC, CV Clock Out, CC LFOs, “Light Show” mode & algorithmic MIDI note modifiers. Details to follow as development progresses.

That’s the meat of the matter in some ways, so these details really affect this project. I’ll check back a little later and see what develops of this. There’s 44 days left in the ks - Oct 22nd. It’s in the price range or maybe a little more than the BomeBox.

They sure should know how to do chords with this, you’d think. As a follow on to the NDLR this is an interesting choice. Their relative good record developing the NDLR; they communicated well, and talked about their delays, also helps some. The NDLR was delayed adding bells and whistles.

1 Like
#4

Hi Jukka, we are deliberately vague because it’s still early in development so do not want to mislead anyone with exaggerated promises. However, as with The NDLR, we can continue to add MIDI effects and potentially some algorithmic/generative features after we ship.
The short list for MIDI effects/modifiers are: arpeggiator, velocity scaling, keyboard splits, interleaved polychaining (like on The NDLR), and a couple of other interesting ideas we got from Knobcon synth convention attendees this past weekend.
Besides that, we are keen to implement some algorithmic generative or assistive MIDI processing. We have a quite fast MCU, but will be cautious not to impact MIDI I/O performance. That is the priority!
By the way, The NDLR delay was primarily due to manufacturing issues, but that did give Steve some extra time to implement more goodies on The NDLR :yum:

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Blokas Midihub
#5

Hey, thanks for sharing our project MRCC. I just created a new “Conductivelabs” account here so I could join the conversation and answer any questions.

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#6

Neat! It looks like a cool machine! I wish I could back it!

Congrats on making this thing and good luck with the product!

Also, welcome to the forum! :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
#7

Video from Knobcon via Synthtopia

I see they’re 84% of the way through their KS goal, so you can be pretty sure they will make goal.

Looks nice. Lot’s of interesting features here. You can tell the team at Conductive Labs is listening and thinking.

3 Likes
#8

The kickstarter goal is met, project is funded. The sale rythm remains very good.
To be noticed: after 7 additional sales, the price will raise.

2 Likes
#9

There is discussion of the MRCC on Sonic Talk #590.

1 Like
#10

Despite my annoyance at having found out about this well after all of the early bird pricing was gone and already owning a midi router… I backed this.

My name is griotspeak and I have a problem.

In all seriousness though, it really bothered me that I couldn’t find something like the MOTU MIDI Timepiece AV and this does what I wanted from it MIDI wise.

1 Like
#11

Last 10 hours of the Kickstarter! We made it! Thanks for your support, we are as excited as you to have this in our studios. Its just what we needed!

Darryl

3 Likes
#12

There are some updates over here:

There are three videos that demonstrate the various functions implemented.
There are some example screen displays on the compact color OLED screen on the MRCC.
And there are renders of the final design in the aluminum box with skins.

#13

Oh shit…this thing! It’s got a cover now.
Interested to see how this one werks out.
Looks awesome.

#14

Pre-orders for MRCC available !!! Pre-ordered one immedately, this will replace some smaller mergers and splitters.

2 Likes
#15

I have been looking at the chance to get the MRCC recently, but decided to wait to order. It looks like they are saying the pre-order is on March of next year, but you aren’t allowed to see the last two months of KS updates if you didn’t pledge. Not sure why the project status is private and hidden? Maybe there’s a good reason. Having three month old information makes it more difficult to judge how accurate the March delivery estimate is. The project has been delayed a year already, for good reasons that goes beyond the pandemic, so anticipating further delays seems reasonable. It’s hard to judge without information.

This is a large project with many interlocking pieces, and will solve a variety of problems, and expand capabilities. Looking forward to ordering this … eventually.

2 Likes
#16

The finished one looks really nice.

I’d love to get one. Did they let you know when you might be getting it?

I’d like to get your feedback INIt when you do.

#17

No, I just got the feedback that my pre-order was ok. On the waiting list, after the original backers from the Kickstarter campaign apparently. But I will keep you posted.

1 Like
#18

Hey, early backer here :wave: Not sure why the updates would be secret, but the last update in November estimated (based on testing pre-production boards) that they would start shipping to backers early or late February depending on what issues they still run into. I’m still not holding my breath (Midihub is serving me well in the meantime), but hopefully I’ll have in a couple of months and can comment.

2 Likes
#19

Thanks for the update ilmai. Interesting that you are a Midihub user as well. I’m thinking that the Midihub and the MRCC might work very nicely together.

I’m thinking that the MRCC can handle the USB MIDI Hosting and be more the connection handler, with the Midihub handling the more fancy processing and generative functions that i currently use it for. It will be interesting to see how far Conductive goes with the programmable functions, i’d be fine if they confine their capabilities to route, split, merge, and some simple filtering.

I like the idea that i might get to a place, particularly for performance, where i don’t have to disconnect and reconfigure MIDI plug connections between setups, and just change prearranged connection setups. The question i wonder with the MRCC and Midihub together would be with MIDI latency.

The MRCC Remote seems a good optional addition when/if you ever run out of connections on the MRCC.

#20

I hope you noticed that the Remote is not adding connectors, simply duplicating them for remote access like the name implies. They’re “looking into” making them additional ports instead of shared but this won’t be available at launch at least.

As for Midihub, I’m currently only using it as a router but planning to use it more for effects once I get MRCC. I should be receiving a Bastl Midilooper today and I have some tentative ideas how to use Midilooper + Midihub for creative “MIDI destructive looping”…

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