Any Sycologic MIDI patchbay owners?

[oldgearguy]

Does anyone out there have a manual for this thing? I've figured out most of the functionality but there's still some nagging issues.

Thanks

[waveterm]

Sell it !

( to me )

WT

[oldgearguy]

Originally Posted by waveterm

Sell it !

( to me )

WT

Did you buy the one on VEMIA? It sold for 111 UKP.

The main question I have is that on the face of it, the Sycologic does not provide a merging capability, just routing. However, the interface is a bit cryptic in some areas and a manual would be very useful for the last 5% that I don't understand.

[waveterm]

Hi !

No, I didn´t buy the one on Vemia. Did place a bid on it but lost.

However, I did buy Vince Clarkes expander on Ebay. I was hoping to find an M16 sometime but hasn´t yet.

Might sell the expander as I have enough patchbays.

WT

[paul jennings]

i have a manual which i can copy and post for £15 gpp
please email if you still need this
my patch bay is up for grabs on ebay so respond while i still own it
cheers paul.

[waveterm]

Hi Paul,

I got a notice from Ebay that it is up for auction.



It is however too much for me atm.


WT

[Joeycapucino]

Originally Posted by paul jennings

i have a manual which i can copy and post for £15 gpp
please email if you still need this
my patch bay is up for grabs on ebay so respond while i still own it
cheers paul.

Hi Paul,
Can you pdf me the Sycologic m16 manual? You can bill me at PayPal. I just got mine fixed, but the letters are coming up very strange. Thank you, Joey

[oldgearguy]

How did I miss this thread reply?

I guess I'm too late in saying I still need a manual. Paul - maybe you still have contact info for the person that bought yours?

oh well.

[JasonHerb]

Ah yes, now I am on the same quest. Anyone have a manual or a copy of the Syncologic MIDI SWITCHER documentation?

If not, would someone who owns one be kind enough to pass along the basic operationaly procedures to me?

I just picked up a 16x48.

THANKS!
JH

[rachel]

More to the point, where can you get a Sycologic MIDI switcher or router in the first place? How do you connect these to a modern computer
for synchronisation?


rachel

[oldgearguy]

Originally Posted by JasonHerb

Ah yes, now I am on the same quest. Anyone have a manual or a copy of the Syncologic MIDI SWITCHER documentation?

If not, would someone who owns one be kind enough to pass along the basic operationaly procedures to me?

I just picked up a 16x48.

THANKS!
JH

I'll be sitting in front of my gear Saturday afternoon and I'll try to remember to type in the procedures for everything I've figured out then. In the meantime, to do simple routing for now (no naming, etc), press Source, use the arrows to cycle through 1->16. Next, press destination and cycle through 1->48. When you have your destination located, press the button in the bottom right of the keypad (S I think) to Set the source/destination pairing. The button in the lower left (C I think) can Clear a pairing if you no longer need it.

Once you set up your source and destination routings, remember to hit Save. If the Sycologic doesn't not remember your routings, you need to replace the battery in the main unit (the battery is not in the remote).

[oldgearguy]

Originally Posted by rachel

More to the point, where can you get a Sycologic MIDI switcher or router in the first place? How do you connect these to a modern computer
for synchronisation?


rachel

They pop up used in the UK mostly. Scan the Sound on Sound classifieds or put a Wanted To Buy on there.

Some notes - Sycologic patchbays DO NOT do channel merging, filtering. etc. They simply route. If you need advanced features in your patchbay, look for the JL Cooper Synapse (16x20 with up channel merging, filtering, re-routing, etc). I have a pair that I will be selling at some point once I go through them and verify functionality.

The benefit of the Sycologic is that they are simpler and in theory have less processing delays, although the JL Coopers are very quick and very solid. The other main benefit of the Sycologic is the remote programming head for it. The main unit is just the patchpoints and a power button and all functionality is in the remote. It is so convenient to grab the remote, pull it over to where you are working, type in a new MIDI routing, and then set it down. I only have a few preset configurations in the machine and do the rest of my patching on an 'as-needed' basis because it is so simple and quick.

Hooking to a computer -- you need a MIDI interface on your computer. Either a serial port to MIDI or USB to MIDI connection is required since the Sycologic only talks MIDI.

[oldgearguy]

Naming:

Press Function (should be on 1?); press Enter
Press either Source or Destination to select what you are naming.
Press Function again to name the patch.
Use the keypad to change which Source/Destination you are naming. Note that it is a bit funky - to get a single digit you might have to press the number twice (you'll see what I mean).
Use the Inc/Dec arrows to change the letters (note you'll have to cycle through some garbage characters). Use "S" to save that letter and move to the next one. Use "C" to back up 1 letter.

Assigning Source/Destination:

Press Source and use the arrows to cycle through choices (note the first position is off?).
Press Destination and cycle through the choices. Use "S" to Set the connection. Use "C" to revert back to the old connection for that position.

Use Function 6 to dump/load the contents of the Sycologic to your computer/MIDI storage device. Use the keypad to select which port you are using.

You can edit the MIDI data outside the computer with something like HexEdit and that might be faster to clean up the garbage characters in the display (and maybe to also use lower case too) and then send the edited dump back to the Sycologic.

[JasonHerb]

FABULOUS!!!
Thanks for taking the time to share those procedures with me.

The "program change" functions look especially cryptic to me.
Do you know how to set-up those parameters as well?

THANKS AGAIN!
JH

[rachel]

Originally Posted by oldgearguy

They pop up used in the UK mostly. Scan the Sound on Sound classifieds or put a Wanted To Buy on there.

Some notes - Sycologic patchbays DO NOT do channel merging, filtering. etc. They simply route. If you need advanced features in your patchbay, look for the JL Cooper Synapse (16x20 with up channel merging, filtering, re-routing, etc). I have a pair that I will be selling at some point once I go through them and verify functionality.

The benefit of the Sycologic is that they are simpler and in theory have less processing delays, although the JL Coopers are very quick and very solid. The other main benefit of the Sycologic is the remote programming head for it. The main unit is just the patchpoints and a power button and all functionality is in the remote. It is so convenient to grab the remote, pull it over to where you are working, type in a new MIDI routing, and then set it down. I only have a few preset configurations in the machine and do the rest of my patching on an 'as-needed' basis because it is so simple and quick.

Hooking to a computer -- you need a MIDI interface on your computer. Either a serial port to MIDI or USB to MIDI connection is required since the Sycologic only talks MIDI.

Hi, this is very interesting stuff. Can you give me some info about the JL Cooper box? To get my point, I have 3 AMT-8's currently chained together
to get MIDI routing for my Octopus. What would be cool, is it drop Logic out of the equation for MIDI routing and filtering and go as much hardware
wise as possible, leaning on the routing and filtering of the JL's or the Syco's.

Basically, they would be replacing the AMT's which appear to need a computer to perform any basic function and don't work well without one.

So, once I had control over the routing and filtering in hardware, bypassing the computer for 99% of MIDI functions, I should then be able to use something like "Record" sync'd to a MIDI interface driven by the Octopus
clock?

This would be a terrific compromise because I really don't want the computer at all involved in my creative processes. I use computers all day in my job and the goal is to have time away from them, using a different part of the brain, if you like, interacting with the music more directly via my hardware interfaces.

SO then after building everything up in the real world, I would then
sync "Record" up to the MIDI clock and just send it all down......

I am really quite interested in whether anyone else is doing this and
am tempted about the JL Cooper approach!


rachel

[Brownian Lotion]

OT - I have a sycologic DX-7 expansion card sitting around wanting love...

[JasonHerb]

@Rachel

The Sycologic doesn't do any midi filtering. It's strictly a router with some program change options.

I used to have a JL Cooper 8x8 and it was excellent. I imagine if you can find a 16x20 that would work very well for you. The JL Cooper DOES give you the option to filter midi data. I'm a big fan.

Cheers!
JH

[JasonHerb]

What's a sycologic DX-7 card do??

Is that anything like the E! expansion from Grey Matter?
I have an old DX-7 and a DX-5, so just curious.
THANKS!
JH

[muziekschuur]

I have a Edirol/Roland MU880 8x8 midi patchbay with usb. Does my midi patchbay things your equipment can't. Can the old sycologic stuff do things midi today can't?

Just trying to grasp what's so interesting about the Sycologic? Or is this all about sound creation?

[waveterm]

The Sycologic is bigger than the Roland you have.

16 ins and 16 out for the base model. 2x outputexpanders with 16 outs each can be connected for a system with 16 in / 48 out.

As others have stated the Sycologic doesn´t do any filtering or mergeing of Mididata. It is strictly a midipatchbay with splitting. 1 input can be connected to any or all output.. 2 inputs cannot be connected to the same output.

I use the JLCooper Synapse system which is 16 in / 20 out with 3 processors that can filter/transform/merge.

I have 3 units networked for a system with 8 common inputs / 60 outputs. Each unit has in addition 8 local inputs that can only be patched to the 20 local outputs. You can connect up to 4 units for a system with 16 inputs/80 outputs.

I´m looking for a fourth.

WT

[oldgearguy]

Like I said - I have 2 JL Cooper Synapses available. I haven't tested them extensively in quite a while, but if someone is looking for 1 (or 1 plus a spare) let me know.

PM is fine, I usually check once a day or so.

[Beechside]

I have an m16 and manual that I'm going to sell. Any idea what's the best route? Have tried SOS twice but no nibbles. Don't want to sell on ebay for 10 quid to a profiteer...

Cheers!

Pete Morris

[rockmanrock]

Originally Posted by Beechside

I have an m16 and manual that I'm going to sell. Any idea what's the best route? Have tried SOS twice but no nibbles. Don't want to sell on ebay for 10 quid to a profiteer...

Cheers!

Pete Morris

Put it on Ebay and tick the boxes to get it listed worldwide. Set a reserve if you're concerned about letting it go for a song. There's only a small market for big MIDI patchbays but there are keen people out there after them. I've seen the Function Junction ones go for over 100 pounds.

[Beechside]

Thanks for the advice. At least there's still a market. Have decided to try Sound on Sound one last time then it's eBay with a reserve after that...

Much appreciated!

Pete

[tommym]

I'm afraid the memory back-up battery is dead, and you'll have to reinitiallize it. (Press function, and then go up to #6 or something, either with the L R arrow keys or the other C and S (clear and set) keys; I forget which...Unfortunately, after you do this, and you make some programs, you'll have to leave the power on the unit ON always, or else it will erase and return to the 'funny letters and numbers' when you power down and then back up again. . . As an alternative, once you get it programmed, you can back it up as Midi Sequence data to your computer. It's easy, but it takes more time than a 'dump' would, because it's just real-time MIDI notes.
Good luck, if you're still using one, or trying to. I realise it's been a long time since the post that I'm replying to.

Originally Posted by Joeycapucino

Hi Paul,
Can you pdf me the Sycologic m16 manual? You can bill me at PayPal. I just got mine fixed, but the letters are coming up very strange. Thank you, Joey

[waveterm]

Change the battery and clear all memories and destination-names.

Make new routings.

WT