Midi in to midi out?

I think I may need to purchase a midi merge unit but thought I’d ask in case there is some trick I’m not aware of…

On the Octatrack is there a way to have midi in merged with the midi out port and not just routed to the thru port?
Trying to use a custom controller to send CCs to the A4 as well as midi clock from the Octatrack,
Thanks!

How about controller -> A4 -> OT?

Use the A4 as master clock? That would work … just seems wrong because I have them racked in an EIT-1 with the Octatrack on bottom kind of driving everything. Thanks. Probably need a merger anyway though as I want to add a keyboard to the mix to play the A4. What I was thinking before was …

Custom midi controller to Octa in
Octa out to Mopho In (for clock and sequencing).
Mopho out to A4 in (with mopho in echoed to out in Mopho settings for clock from Octa)
A4 thru to FX boxes (for midi clock sync)

This will work except I cannot route the custom controller to the A4.