usb2midi device in the octopus

[gseher]

Hi,

I have a couple of questions on the topic of the enticing usb/midi/lamp port. What is the hardware device installed in the octopus and is it wired to potentialaly serve as a usb2midi device with firmware?

I know there are some basic opensource drivers out there and thought prehaps it could be basis to write an octopus driver.
are there any future plans to exploit the usb hardware and write an official driver?

With a usb link and a socket into the octopus OS some potential for interesting octo/midi ctrl sotware could arise.

Cheers

Wilson

[Hans Landman]

For me, being able to connect an additional 8×8 USB midi interface would be an incredible addition. For now, I am using my computer with cubase to reroute/rechannelise/distribute midi messages thru to my various hardware synths.

However, the more I would be able to ‘remove’ the computer as a part of my sequencer setup, the better it would be (for me at least). Addressing more hardware synths directly from a connected USB interface would be a great step forwards.

I’m presently using Emagic Unitor8 (3x) with USB interface, which (as far as I know) is already being supported in various Linux distros.

Post edited by: Hanz, at: 2009/11/19 23:31

[Adam]

You can’t use the Unitor 8 in some sort of standalone mode? I have a similar looking MIDIsport 8×8 and I can set it up to re-route midi inputs however I please with a software driver and then operate it without a computer. Meaning I can do exactly what you’re asking using only MIDI cables, Hanz.

[Julian Parker]

I would LOVE to see MIDI over USB on the Octopus/Nemo. In my opinion, the bandwidth limitations of standard DIN-based MIDI are the greatest flaw of these sequencers. The amount of data you can spit out soon overwhelms the connection and leaves you with timing problems. MIDI over USB would solve this, at least for those of triggering software as well as hardware.

Unfortunately, Gabriel has told me in the past that the current hardware is not capable of this, so I doubt we’ll see it. Although personally, I’d quite happily pay to have the hardware upgraded to make this possible…

[Hans Landman]

I am indeed aware that it is possible to do something remotely similar to the requested functionality with (for instance) an Unitor in standalone mode.
In practice this means setting up the Unitor as a ‘dumb’ midi thru box, where the incoming Octopus MIDI stream is just spit out on all 8 output ports. Now, with some clever setting of all receiving hardware MIDI reception channels, it is indeed possible to effectively address multiple hardware synths in this way.

However, the above is a fairly blunt solution. In order to to smarter stuff, such as rechannelizing / channelfiltering per output for multiple outputs, one needs some very specific (obscure / outdated / hard to obtain) hardware. As you are certainly aware, Adam, the Unitor / AMT8 is not able to do routing on the midi channel level, only on a port basis (where one can selectively filter out some generic MIDI messages).

Whereas the alternative, the Octopus driving a USB 8×8 MIDI interface, could be fairly easy to implement (seen from a user perspective, since I am not aware of the Octy’s finer technical details – I would certainly understand if this would be a limitation).
Where there are currently 2 MIDI outputs, 32 channels, selectable through the MCH function, this could be easily increased to work with a larger amount of channels (thus: outputs). Why stop at 32? :woohoo:

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with trying to think of a ‘workaround’, thanks for bringing that up, Adam. Actually, with my previous hardware seq (the Schrittmacher) I hardly did anything other than that. Being forced to think ‘out of the box’ is certainly fun, however I am greatly enjoying the luxury of the Octy easily doing what I was trying to accomplish by wringing out the last bits of the Schritty.

If one can avoid having to use workarounds, the direct usability of the Octopus increases, IMHO. Remember; not everybody is trying to using the octopus with the latest/greates multitimbral/megavoice VA instrument… When I am connecting a drumbox such as the Vermona DRM1 and a single analog monosynth through my Kenton midi/cv box, I am already out of MIDI connections and would already have to resort to alternative solutions…

Anyway, to cut my little tirade short :blush: , I’d be greatly interested to hear if the USB MIDI thing is definitely ‘out of bounds’… or maybe…?

Post edited by: Hanz, at: 2009/11/20 23:27

[Carlos Dalla-Fiore]

It aint elegant, but i just got one of these. The plan is to use it for the less critical stuff. In all honesty i havn’t tried it yet and it wont help bandwidth issues. I’m on a Nemo and not running that many tracks anyway.

http://www.midisolutions.com/prodqth.htm

if your in europe both thomann and musicstore stock them. Kenton have a 5 out version.

[Roderick van Erp]

I use a Midi Merger from Philip Rees (2M) for this….works perfect !

[Author]

Posts