A
Does the job beautifully, no latency, no power issues
Great price, great bit of gear! Works perfectly well for my set up.
I bought two of these as they are at a great price, and because my gear is all hardware with a fairly complex setup, and I found in multiple instances that even if a device (synth, MIDI controller etc) has MIDI IN and OUT ports, doesn't mean they both work simultaneously (I can't understand why) and obviously doesn't mean they can do MIDI thru or merge.
Also I don't need to have extremely strong build quality since they won't be moved from the desk.
So I'll outline my setup in case anyone with similar equipment is looking to know if these Miditech boxes will work ok. I suspect they will!
It's hard to put into understandable words (a picture would be better but I'll try anyway. You'd probably be as well drawing your own picture as you read down through this!)
I have Roland TR-8 Drum Machine with MIDI OUT port (master clock) going to Miditech box1 IN.
OUT1 on the Miditech box1 goes to a Korg Volca Beats IN port (for clock only, no need for MIDI controller control on the Beats) and OUT2 goes to IN on an Arturia KeyStep Arp/Sequencer. (There will be more devices added to the OUT3 and OUT4 at a later date. (Clearly, as you'll see from the rest of this, I'm completely addicted to hardware :)
So this keeps perfect clock time, no noticeable latency of any kind. No power issues with the Miditech box running off the TR-8.
Next, I have a Tascam FW1884 Mixer with inbuilt 4 IN / 4 OUT MIDI (2 IN > 4 OUT/THRU/MERGE simultaneously).
The KeyStep OUT port goes to FW1884 IN1 port (which passes clock to everything else).
A Korg Kontrol 49 MIDI controller OUT port goes to FW1884 IN2 port.
FW1884 OUT1, OUT2 and OUT3 ports go to a Volca Keys, a Novation Bass Station 2, and an Access Virus C Desktop ..for MIDI Controller control AND KeyStep arp/sequencing (and clock), on ALL of these synths.
FW1884 OUT4 port goes into second Miditech box IN port. Again, no noticeable latency or issues with power.
Miditech box2 OUT1 goes to the TR-8 IN (so some functions can be controlled by the MIDI controller such as scatter and sidechain).
Miditech box2 OUT2 goes to a Korg KP3, also so it can be controlled by the MIDI keyboard (ie: the hold button and effects volume).
Miditech box2 OUT3 goes to a Volca Bass.
Ok so all that's probably hard to follow but put as simply as possible, with all the gear tied together using two Miditech boxes, I can play and/or control a Volca Bass, Volca Beats, Access Virus C, Bass Station, TR-8, KP3 with the programmed K49 controller (specific synth determined by K49 scene and midi channel - just a 2 button press) AND I can play an arp or sequence with the KeyStep on any of the synths (excluding the Volca Beats) and switch between them very easily (again, specific synth determined by midi channel set on the KeyStep - also just a 2 button press). All latency free.
I am absolutely delighted with these Miditech boxes. No need for external power as they power off the MIDI IN device (although while I haven't had any issue myself, I believe some devices won't quite have enough power for it or won't pass the power through properly. This would not be the Miditech box at fault.)
I currently have no need for the filter on the Miditech boxes but tested it anyway and it worked very well. All switches off, everything gets through. One switch or more on, and the MIDI gets filtered accordingly.
Even if it didn't have the filter switches, they're still one of, if not THE cheapest 1 IN > 4 OUT/THRU MIDI boxes going. Not the strongest plastic shell I've ever seen but you should be fine if you don't get too rough with it.
Highly recommended!
I bought two of these as they are at a great price, and because my gear is all hardware with a fairly complex setup, and I found in multiple instances that even if a device (synth, MIDI controller etc) has MIDI IN and OUT ports, doesn't mean they both work simultaneously (I can't understand why) and obviously doesn't mean they can do MIDI thru or merge.
Also I don't need to have extremely strong build quality since they won't be moved from the desk.
So I'll outline my setup in case anyone with similar equipment is looking to know if these Miditech boxes will work ok. I suspect they will!
It's hard to put into understandable words (a picture would be better but I'll try anyway. You'd probably be as well drawing your own picture as you read down through this!)
I have Roland TR-8 Drum Machine with MIDI OUT port (master clock) going to Miditech box1 IN.
OUT1 on the Miditech box1 goes to a Korg Volca Beats IN port (for clock only, no need for MIDI controller control on the Beats) and OUT2 goes to IN on an Arturia KeyStep Arp/Sequencer. (There will be more devices added to the OUT3 and OUT4 at a later date. (Clearly, as you'll see from the rest of this, I'm completely addicted to hardware :)
So this keeps perfect clock time, no noticeable latency of any kind. No power issues with the Miditech box running off the TR-8.
Next, I have a Tascam FW1884 Mixer with inbuilt 4 IN / 4 OUT MIDI (2 IN > 4 OUT/THRU/MERGE simultaneously).
The KeyStep OUT port goes to FW1884 IN1 port (which passes clock to everything else).
A Korg Kontrol 49 MIDI controller OUT port goes to FW1884 IN2 port.
FW1884 OUT1, OUT2 and OUT3 ports go to a Volca Keys, a Novation Bass Station 2, and an Access Virus C Desktop ..for MIDI Controller control AND KeyStep arp/sequencing (and clock), on ALL of these synths.
FW1884 OUT4 port goes into second Miditech box IN port. Again, no noticeable latency or issues with power.
Miditech box2 OUT1 goes to the TR-8 IN (so some functions can be controlled by the MIDI controller such as scatter and sidechain).
Miditech box2 OUT2 goes to a Korg KP3, also so it can be controlled by the MIDI keyboard (ie: the hold button and effects volume).
Miditech box2 OUT3 goes to a Volca Bass.
Ok so all that's probably hard to follow but put as simply as possible, with all the gear tied together using two Miditech boxes, I can play and/or control a Volca Bass, Volca Beats, Access Virus C, Bass Station, TR-8, KP3 with the programmed K49 controller (specific synth determined by K49 scene and midi channel - just a 2 button press) AND I can play an arp or sequence with the KeyStep on any of the synths (excluding the Volca Beats) and switch between them very easily (again, specific synth determined by midi channel set on the KeyStep - also just a 2 button press). All latency free.
I am absolutely delighted with these Miditech boxes. No need for external power as they power off the MIDI IN device (although while I haven't had any issue myself, I believe some devices won't quite have enough power for it or won't pass the power through properly. This would not be the Miditech box at fault.)
I currently have no need for the filter on the Miditech boxes but tested it anyway and it worked very well. All switches off, everything gets through. One switch or more on, and the MIDI gets filtered accordingly.
Even if it didn't have the filter switches, they're still one of, if not THE cheapest 1 IN > 4 OUT/THRU MIDI boxes going. Not the strongest plastic shell I've ever seen but you should be fine if you don't get too rough with it.
Highly recommended!
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m
Handy little tool
Useful and affordable midi thru box. It has filtering options for if you don’t want certain things like program changes sent.
I use this box to split the midi output of my Octatrack sampler to an FM synth, a korg volca unit, two small monosynth modules and a delay pedal that has a midi input, all of which sit on another table from the sampler. Used for clocking, and some sequencing.
It’s made out of (very hard) plastic, although the inclusion of rubber feet at the bottom is great! The grip allows it to double as a prop to give a faderfox PC4 modules a slightly steeper viewing angle, in my case.
After a couple years of use, no issues, I don’t notice any latency, still works like a charm. At this price I do not have anything negative to remark.
I use this box to split the midi output of my Octatrack sampler to an FM synth, a korg volca unit, two small monosynth modules and a delay pedal that has a midi input, all of which sit on another table from the sampler. Used for clocking, and some sequencing.
It’s made out of (very hard) plastic, although the inclusion of rubber feet at the bottom is great! The grip allows it to double as a prop to give a faderfox PC4 modules a slightly steeper viewing angle, in my case.
After a couple years of use, no issues, I don’t notice any latency, still works like a charm. At this price I do not have anything negative to remark.
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BC
021 Klinik:Room
Just not to complicate too much; it does what was made to do. 5/5
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CQ
Perfect for sequencing clock across a complex MIDI setup.
I use this to synchronize my modular rig with 2 other musicians using a Drumbrute, a Minilogue and a Maschine MKii. We clock off the Maschine, and rather than daisy chaining we use this as a single 'thru' to keep latency to a minimum and it works a treat. The fact that it powers itself is all the better!
As for the filters, assume they work, but haven't tried them.
As for the filters, assume they work, but haven't tried them.
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L
Great for daisy chaining
I daisy chained this with a Kenton-5 and it works great. No latency, and no issues at all.
I bought this because it's the cheapest you can find, so I haven't utilized the filter function yet. I just use it as a thru box.
As for the build, it does feel a tiny bit cheaper than let's say a Midi Solutions alternative.
I bought this because it's the cheapest you can find, so I haven't utilized the filter function yet. I just use it as a thru box.
As for the build, it does feel a tiny bit cheaper than let's say a Midi Solutions alternative.
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H
Midi swiss knive
This little box can filter any midi signal. Very handy. I already use three of them, to filter out midi real time data, or to filter out the lock signal. This is the swiss knive of midi. Good quality and it is powered by the midi signals themselves, very convenient.
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F
Never experienced any issue with it. It just works.
It is MIDI-powered, which can be a blessing (no clunky power adapter) or a curse (not all sources deliver a powerful enough MIDI signal). Having a choice of power sources would have been nice.
It is MIDI-powered, which can be a blessing (no clunky power adapter) or a curse (not all sources deliver a powerful enough MIDI signal). Having a choice of power sources would have been nice.
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FM
Works out of the box.
This unit isn't going to create world peace but it will hep you route your midi signals efficiently and effectively Does what it says on the tin. Glad I bought it.
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AP
Yeah
Such a small and effective tool. Helps me to send midi thru for my drum machines and synths. Works perfect.
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BD
works very well with Arturia Keystep Pro
This device is powered by the MIDI-IN cable, so the main advantage is that you don't another power cable and adapter. Apparently not every device has enough current to power it up. Fortunately it works like a charm in combination with my Arturia Keystep Pro. It does exactly what it needs to do.
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