Midi Patchbay

[newguy12]

I got a couple of synths, a drum machine, an external sequencer and a midi controller as well as a midi in on my soundcard. Hence I was wondering if somebody can recommend a good midi patchbay or some method of hooking up all this stuff so I don't have to constantly plug and unplug everything. I've looked at ebay and its pretty slim pickings, plus as an added bonus I don't have much money so the cheaper the better. Thanks in advance.

[housepig]

I used to swear by MOTU products, until I started having consistent bad experiences with them.

I've moved over to Midiman gear, and I'm pretty pleased with it. I have an 8x8 rack unit that will last me forever, and I'm pretty sure you can use it as a standalone without a computer in the setup.

Not sure what they ordinarily go for, I got mine from Mars Music when they were going out of business.

if you search around online or at used gear shops, you might be able to find some older, mid-80's gear like Opcode or AKAI stuff cheap - I saw a lot of that when I was looking for a 4x4 or an 8x8, but I wanted to integrate my computer, and some of that stuff either didn't have any computer interface capability, or it was all Windows 3.1-era software & drivers...

- housepig

[apropos of nothing]

I used to have a Digital Music MX-8 that I loved the crap out of. I've since simplified so I don't need as much routing as I used to. The interface, once I got used to its sheer simplicity, is brain-freezingly fast and easy to use. (Nearly as fast, come to think of it, as the tapeop messageboard.)

[Aj]

Funny you mention eBay & midi pbays....

I'm getting ready to auction my Yamaha MJC8. It's got 50 memory slots, 8 instruments as masters, another 8 as slaves. (No midi merge though, if that's important to you.)

If you're interested, shoot me an email.

Best,
Aj
drawingroom, detroit
info@drawingroom.org

[justinf]

I have a similar, simple setup and still use an Akai ME30PII that I bought in junior high. It's 4 in, 8 out, 30 programs, one merge function. That's it, but it's reliable, no wall wart, and you can find 'em for like 10 bucks.

[housepig]

oooooooooooooooo

HERE is one that was owned by Megadeth!!

very metal!

- housepig

[SLAG]

I used to swear by MOTU products, until I started having consistent bad experiences with them.

I've moved over to Midiman gear, and I'm pretty pleased with it. I have an 8x8 rack unit that will last me forever, and I'm pretty sure you can use it as a standalone without a computer in the setup.

I had the opposite experience. I tried several midiman products and it did not like my Win XP USB configuration even with different drivers.

I settled on the Motu Express XT (8 ports) USB.

I have usually 6-7 devices running for both Midi timeclock and to slave keyboards/modules. The new control panel is easy-to-use and routing possibilities are endless(with every parameter available on each channel of each port). It's stable on my XP box. I get a goofy midi clock problem but I am narrowing it down to a problem with a master clock bug in my audio software(??).

[meblumen]

Hey SLAG I'm curious what audio programs your running and maybe some other details about your setup. THe reason I ask, although I haven't used any of the MOTU stuff personally everyone I have talked with who was a PC user has complained of driver issues and other problems associated with the MOTU stuff and said for PC users that they would avoid MOTU like the plague but that they do make some great stuff, its just much better suited for Macs. With that said, I was thinking about getting a midi patchbay myself, how do you guys feel about a used Digital Music Corp. MX-8 Midi Patch Bay. I saw a couple on ebay that looked promising for much less than any of the MOTU or Midiman gear and I already have a midi interface so I couldn't imagen needing the extra computer connectivity. Oh, also I was looking around for the Akai one but I can't seem to find it anywhere, if it really goes for $10 then I'd defintly want to get my hands on one of those instead.

[apropos of nothing]

MX-8:
I spent twenty minutes looking at all three parametric screens of the interface going, "Whaaah?!", and then I spent a minute and a half looking at the 3 page manual and said "oh." I was then able to use it perfectly and quickly forever, and pr'y still could. The enb.

Its a cheap effective tool. The world needs more of those.