I’ve used a $10 passive audio-video switchbox to route one controller to four synths. If you use miniphone-to-RCA Y-cables, you can even flip one set of RCA plugs to convert TRS-MIDI A to B. (In other words, connect red to white and white to red.) I also wired up some DIN-to-RCA cables. I soldered pin 5 of the MIDI plug to the cable’s left (white) wire, pin 4 to the right (red), and pin 2 to the shield.
As @darenager guessed, enabling multiple outputs made a poor man’s MIDI Thru box, allowing me to layer MIDI modules. I just had to make sure no notes were sustaining when I switched off an output, because that would prevent the eventual Note Off command from arriving, causing stuck notes.
The cool thing about using a video switcher is that you get the extra yellow jack for each channel. I used that to route CV signals or monophonic audio. This photo is from my “Synth Hacks” column in Waveform magazine, where I described this hack in more detail. The monster eyeball is powered by CV.
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