Midi patchbay?

[rodhmos]

My apologies if this is a stupid question:
Does a midi patchbay exist as a product?
(I would prefer something that is still in production).

Please feel free to suggest brands if is is allowed by the forum rules!

Thank you!

[Albert]

Absolutely! But we need to be clear, are we talking about a midi interface for a computer, or an actual midi patchbay, i.e. eight ins being routed to eight outs.

True midi patchbays (not midi interfaces) were more of a late 80's to mid-90's kind of thing. As such, most of your selection is going to be used.

A good one was made by 360 Systems, and was called the Midi Patcher.

[pianodano]

Yep, and I have a 360 systems midi patcher 4 in 8 out that I no longer use. I now use a couple of Maudio 8x8's. Let me know if the one I am not using is big enough.

Danny

[el cochino]

I have an old Akai midi patchbay

[amino]

The old Roland A-880 is a classic. And still the best if you ask me!

[7 Hz]

Edirol UM-880

Computer interface and hardware patchbay (works without the computer).

Being discontinued I beleive, only place I could find it on the planet was http://www.videoforworship.com/index...7886e5cc772f3e

[drockfresh]

Originally Posted by 7 Hz

Edirol UM-880

thumbsup +1

[amino]

Originally Posted by 7 Hz

Edirol UM-880

I agree on that one too! That's the one I'm using, while my A-880 sees no use nowadays. The UM-880 is a bit expensive just as a patchbay though...

[sscannon]

Can't you use an MTPAV?

[roc]

What about this ?

MOTU.com - MIDI Express XT Overview

[Kingtone]

A Midisport 8x8 interface can operate as a standalone patchbay as well.
you might find there are a few currently in production that can.

[sameal]

thread grave diggers!





but if anyone has a midi patchbay that is decent and cheap I'm after one.

[Farshad]

Originally Posted by 7 Hz

Edirol UM-880

+2 thumbsup

[The Real MC]

JL Cooper MSB 8x8 MIDI patchbay is a great unit. Hasn't been made since the 90s and doesn't have USB, but you can program it from the front panel.

I have two in my system.

Two products that need to come back are MIDI patchbays and decent MIDI keyboard controllers like the Kurzweil MIDIBoard.

[synthdood]

Although they don't come up for sale very often a Digital Music Corp MX8 is a very good midi patch bay. I've had one for years and it never failed me.

I can also vouch for the Kawai MAV8. It is very simple, just a few sliders that select which input goes to which output. No processing, so nothing that can go wrong.

I also just bought a Edirol UM880, mainly because I need more midi I/O but I'll probably also be using it as a patchbay. Haven't gotten around to hooking it up yet but considering the excellent rap it usually gets I have high expectations.

[MarvinDog]

Originally Posted by sameal

thread grave diggers!





but if anyone has a midi patchbay that is decent and cheap I'm after one.

Used MOTU MTPAV. New they're around $500, but I've seen 'em used for around $100. I recently saw a used parallel port one for $1 at a GC.

There's also the ESI M8U XL, but I'm not sure if it'll function as a stand-alone patchbay.

[Steffmo]

Originally Posted by sscannon

Can't you use an MTPAV?

An MTPAV from MOTU is both a 9 by 8 midi patchbay and midi interface.

The JL Cooper 15/16 was a beast if you needed that much juice

My Fav was the KMX Midi Central, later sold by Ensoniq. 15/16 with all the buttons prog from the front with no screens. A breeze to grok.

[sameal]

I'm black balling jlc. they don't really support there discontinued items.

so if you have a problem with them, your screwed and they could care less. they got bigger customers to sell too who spend bigger dollars.


on the other hand there cs-10/2 was a great idea. if it was supported and brought up to speed with touch sensitivity and motor faders they could really compete. make a cs-10/3. more importantly, just supported at all. works ok in cubase.

but alas, they could care less really. so, i will spend no more money with them. i'd rather wait around and buy a kawai

[krusty]

Originally Posted by amino

The old Roland A-880 is a classic. And still the best if you ask me!

Yep. Found one on CL a while ago for next to nothing. What a gem!

[Fear of Midi]

re the JL Cooper MSB midi patchbay/router

Just in case you don't know... both MOTU and Sound Quest's universal synth editor/librarian programs are compatible with all versions of the JL Cooper MSB midi patchbay, if you ever manage to snag one.

That said, they are primarily designed to operate "standalone" and from what i can tell from the manual I just downloaded, it's as straight forward as they could possibly make front panel editing for a device that apparently does everything except make coffee and clean dishes, especially the MSB Plus Rev 2 (check out the manual: JLCooper Product Manuals )

They were apparently the industry standard for such devices. I just bought the MSB Plus Rev 2 off eBay and anxiously await its arrival. I'll let you know whether it lives up to its reputation...

FOM

[Fortran]

Originally Posted by sameal

thread grave diggers!

but if anyone has a midi patchbay that is decent and cheap I'm after one.

I have a Signex CPM22 which I could shift if your after one, would need to test it first though has been in storage for a while. 22 in/out.

Signex Pro Audio

[bizness80]

thread rez time again.

i just bought a novation remote zero for my mks-50 and I'm planning on picking up other vintage modules over the next few months and i'd like to use the controller with all of them.

this might be kind of a noob question but is there a box out there that lets you merge or select different MIDI devices?

i dont want to plug and unplug things in the back of the controller each time i want to use a different synth.

or should I just daisy chain it? i'm thinking i'll be using the remote with 5 or so different synths eventually.

[Muser]

yes this is such a simple thing and such a pain.

I'm thinking of getting one of these and converting the end of a midi cable into stereo jack.

Hosa SLW-333 Speaker SELECTOR, 1 IN TO 3 OUT, OR 3 IN TO 1 OUT





Midi only uses 3 pins anyhow so as this is a balanced unit, then if it's hacked with two knobs you could get 2 X (3 to 1) or (1 to 3) routers.
depending on how you chose to connect things.

or you could just use one side of it or even use both sides and leave certain ones empty do some clever cross wiring and devise a clever matrix.

mmm I think I just talked myself into this idea.

[bizness80]

Originally Posted by Muser

yes this is such a simple thing and such a pain.

I'm thinking of getting one of these and converting the end of a midi cable into stereo jack.

Hosa SLW-333 Speaker SELECTOR, 1 IN TO 3 OUT, OR 3 IN TO 1 OUT





Midi only uses 3 pins anyhow so as this is a balanced unit, then if it's hacked with two knobs you could get 2 X (3 to 1) or (1 to 3) routers.
depending on how you chose to connect things.

or you could just use one side of it or even use both sides and leave certain ones empty do some clever cross wiring and devise a clever matrix.

mmm I think I just talked myself into this idea.

Gads! If thats really the best option out there then

[bizness80]

I need to get my Remote Zero, CS6X and MKS-50 to all play together so I need a MIDI merge box.

But since I plan on getting more vintage modules down the road, shouldnt I just get a patch bay and be ready for later?

My local shop has the following:

Kawai MAV-8

MOTU MTP II

Akai ME-30P II

Yamaha MJC8

Which one would you go for?

[gramps]

i was cleaning out my basement and found an old Voyce LX-9

g

[Disco Cubist]

Biz,

Are you on OSX or Windows?

Eitehr way there's decent MIDI patchbay software you can use to select different patches between hardware units with a click or two.

I use this setup on OSX to switch MIDI between my Nord G2 and my MKS50, 70 & 80 modules and it works great - no DAW required!

Let me know if you want more details...

[yaren]

yep just get the MOTU midi timepiece, ur life will be solved man...

pretty much ppl if you cant understand midi then you may aswell just never bother with anything in ur life...

[bizness80]

Originally Posted by Disco Cubist

Biz,

Are you on OSX or Windows?

Eitehr way there's decent MIDI patchbay software you can use to select different patches between hardware units with a click or two.

I use this setup on OSX to switch MIDI between my Nord G2 and my MKS50, 70 & 80 modules and it works great - no DAW required!

Let me know if you want more details...

I use Windows. And I'm not sure if thats what I'm looking for(?)

[bizness80]

Originally Posted by bizness80

I need to get my Remote Zero, CS6X and MKS-50 to all play together so I need a MIDI merge box.

But since I plan on getting more vintage modules down the road, shouldnt I just get a patch bay and be ready for later?

My local shop has the following:

Kawai MAV-8

MOTU MTP II

Akai ME-30P II

Yamaha MJC8

Which one would you go for?

Can anyone tell me which of these have merge? I tried looking it up and as they are old units there isnt a lot of info (without reading through a bunch of old PDF manuals )

Come on, I know some of you on here must either have used one of these or at least have the info in your sagely heads!