MIDI Splitter Box recommendations?

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

Hello,

I’ve been wanting to move away from my computer, and just set up all of my gear via MIDI. I was originally under the impression, that I could use the MIDI Thru/Sync B port, to send clock to my other devices, but apparently this is not the case. I believe what I need, is a MIDI splitter box, and I was looking for a little guidance, so that I know what to purchase to achieve this end.

I have a Digitone, Digitakt, Model:Cycles, Nord A1, and Nord Drum 3p.

My original idea was:
Digitone Out to Nord A1
Nord A1 out to Digitone In
Digitone Thru to Digitakt
Digitakt Out to Nord Drum 3P
Digitakt Thru to Model:Cycles

Could I use a “MIDI Solutions Quadra Thru” box (one in, to 4 thru’s) to do:
Digitone Out to Quadra Thru
Quadra Thru to Digitakt, M:C, and Nord A1 (with note and CC inputs disabled for both Digitakt and M:C)
Nord A1 to Digitone In (so I can play the KB into the Digitone)
and Digitakt Out to Nord Drum 3P

Thank you for your help!

Control several devices by midi from Digitone
#2

Checkout Retrokits RK-006, it has 2 MIDI ins and 10 MIDI outs. I’ve been testing it since yesterday, really powerful device. You can also make other stuff with it. Like e.g. “polyphony” on Digitakt and Model:Cycles.

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#3

thanks for the tip, I’ll check it out!

#4

Yes.

For optimal settings, I need more infos :

Who’s the Master? Digitakt.
Do you want to use the Elektron sequencer to sequence your Nord’s? Digitakt.
Do you want to use the Nord A1 Keyboard to play every Tracks of every Device (Digitone, Cycles, Digitakt)?

#5

Hey, thanks!

I think Digitone would be the master, unless there is some good reason for it not to be?
The Digitone would sequence the A1; seems like a good fit with 4 tracks of MIDI and 4 slots on the A1. Digitakt would sequence the Nord Drum, as that has 6 channels, and the DT has 8 MIDI tracks.
No, I only want the A1 to be able to play the Digitone. I’d simply turn of MIDI local mode on the A1, so whichever track has focus (internal DN vs MIDI tracks) would be played by the keyboard.

Cheers!

#6

Owning a Cycles too, I find it easier to play Melodies with a Keyboard. Not to say that if you have an Arp on the A1, you’ll be able to use it with the Cycles.

#7

Right on. I think between the A1 and the Digitone, I’m covered for melodic stuff. M:C will be focused on glitchy drum duties, and I don’t want to over complicate the setup.

#8

Can the MIDI OUT of the Nord A1 be use as a MIDI THRU?

#9

I use midi Solutions quadra thru with my Digitone as Master to send midi to 4 devices. It works wonders. Just set your different machines to different midi channels and sequence away. The Digitone Scale mode is great to send note data to other machines to lock into scale and just jam away.

Quadra Thru was one of the best “bang for buck” items I purchased for my studio.

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#10

DN OUT > DT IN
DT THRU > M:C IN
M:C THRU > A1 IN
A1 OUT > DN IN
DT OUT > Nord Drum IN

With the right MIDI Settings on each Device, it should be good. No need for Quadra Thru.

If you need help with the MIDI Settings, just ask.

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#11

There are quite a few older ones from the pre-daw days on ebay. Casio makes a quite nice one that shows up every now and then. I myself use a midiman 3x8 that is very flexible.

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#12

Thank you all for the help.

I think the Quadra Thru is the ideal solution, and allows me a little of flexibility to add another piece of gear to the chain, should I ever need to.

Also, that is an awesome sticker!

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#13

Off course, if you plan to expand, this is a good tool.

There’s also Kenton who makes a good MIDI THRU Box.

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#14

Hey!

What did you ended up doing?

I have the same gear except for the Cycles and I was thinking of a similar setup.

In an ideal scenario, I’d have the local mode disabled on the Lead and use it as a keyboard to the Digitone while using the Digitone to sequence the Lead.

The problem is that the Lead doesn’t react to the knobs being tweaked with local mode disabled, and the Digitone is not echoing back the CC messages that the Lead sends, so it’s not the best situation.

I’d have to enable local mode if I want to tweak the Lead and at the same time make the Digitone ignore notes because otherwise either both the Lead and the Digitone are triggered at the same time, or the Lead is triggered twice.

The only solution that I can think of is a MIDI processor that can split the Note and CC messages, route the CC messages back to the Lead, while routing the Note messages to the Digitone.

#15

Blokas Midihub does the job very well. Check out this post: Blokas Midihub and Digitakt - #14 by MartinH

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#16

I’m still shocked people buy thru boxes instead of a midi router

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#17

Is there a proper midi router? I would love to have something like a midipatchbay …

#18

Conductive Labs MRCC

#19

Second the MRCC or iConnectivity mioXM/mioXL (which is what I am using).

#20

My setup has changed a lot – I never found a satisfying solution, but I would probably go for the MRCC as the solution