Volca easiest MIDI Out mod!!!

cooptrol · Post by **cooptrol** » Fri May 23, 2014 2:50 pm

Hi, I want to share my own MIDI out mod, in my case for a Volca Beats.
Instead of buying the expensive Amazing Machines kit, or doing the mod that is shown everywhere, with a female DIN connector in a hole drilled to the box, I figured out a completely inexpensive and non-destructive way of having MIDI out.

I just connected the 3 MIDI terminals on the PCB to the 3 legs of the Sync Out minijack female connector, and then made a minijack-DIN midi cable. MIDI only uses 3 of the 5 DIN pins, so a stereo minijack connector is as good for MIDI data. This way you avoid drilling the volca case, and you don't need a female DIN conector.

Photos:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68730219@N03/

Here a list of the MIDI data the Volca Beats outputs. The note numbers for the parts are weird, and the choice of the knobs that output CCs is even weirder. Maybe someone can shed a light on this. So far I managed to control my Nord Micromodular very well. The Volca outputs incoming MIDI clock too, so it works like a Clock MIDI Thru. This is very useful for daisy chaining.

NOTES:

Kick - C2
Snare- D2
Lo Tom - G2
Hi Tom - D3
Cl Hat - F#2
Op Hat - A#2
Clap - D#2
Claves - D#5
Agogo - G4
Crash - C#3

CCs:

Part 1 Level: cc40
Part 2 Level: cc41
Part 3 Level: cc42
Part 4 Level: cc43
Part 5 Level: cc44
Part 6 Level: cc45
Part 7 Level: cc46
Part 8 Level: cc47
Part 9 Level: cc48
Part 10 Level: cc49

Part 7 PCM Speed: cc50
Part 8 PCM Speed: cc51
Part 9 PCM Speed: cc52
Part 10 PCM Speed: cc53

Stutter Time: cc54
Stutter Depth: cc55
Tom Decay: cc56
Hat Closed Decay: cc57
Hat Open Decay: cc58
Hat Grain: cc59

MIDI Clock Out: Yes (also routed from MIDI In)

analoguekid · Post by **analoguekid** » Fri May 23, 2014 7:20 pm

That's very cool, well done in finding that out, does it render the CV out useless though?

cooptrol · Post by **cooptrol** » Sat May 24, 2014 1:27 pm

Thanks! I am not sure it it affects the sync out since I don't have other volcas to test it. My guess is it doesn't.

Sclr · Post by **Sclr** » Sun May 25, 2014 10:16 pm

Genius! Thanks.

zenwanger · Post by **zenwanger** » Sat Jun 14, 2014 2:56 am

Hi, first that was good thinking! I am wondering if you could share some hints on making your cable. FYI korg has an app called SyncKontrol that sends pulses from an iOS device to stereo out. This can be used to send the master clock to the sync in of the volca via a stereo cable. With the Volca's I measured a pulse on the tip and about 400 mV on the ring. (Current leakage?). Are these the connection you made? If so I think that means sync in clock would work with your mod!

1. tip to DIN PIN 5 and TX (on pcb)
2. Sleeve to DIN PIN 2 and GND (on pcb)
3. Ring to DIN PIN 4 and VD (on pcb)

Thanks!

cooptrol · Post by **cooptrol** » Sat Jun 14, 2014 7:57 am

Hey, I did it trial-and-error, the midi end connected to an electribe and the other tip of the cable with the live wires, touching the terminals of the stereo jack connected to the volca, tried all combinations until one worked, and soldered it. Sorry for the untechnical answer!

zenwanger · Post by **zenwanger** » Sat Jun 14, 2014 11:59 am

Ok. Actually that is a good tip too. Maybe someone can confirm.
See http://www.interfacebus.com/PC_MIDI_Pinout.html

Pretty sure that should be the right connections.

What gauge wire did you use?

zenwanger · Post by **zenwanger** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 2:28 am

So here is an update with the detailed connections:

Pcb Midi Trs
Tx Pin5 tip
VD Pin4 ring
GND Pin2 Sleeve

I tested that sync in still works with korg's SyncKontrol iOS app (tempo and swing).

Anyway, just want to say cooptrol that this was an elegant approach to the mod. Nice job.

Note: I recommend 18 gauge max.

cooptrol · Post by **cooptrol** » Wed Jun 18, 2014 10:04 pm

Thanks for the compliment! I must say that in my case, there was no other way to do it than trial and error, because the MIDI cable I was using could not be disassembled to see the pinout, and the color codes it had didnt match any MIDI color codes I found on google, so there was no way to know which terminal was connected to which pin on the DIN connector.

Hugo · Post by **Hugo** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:08 am

Shouldn't this thread be made a sticky?

TBN · Post by **TBN** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:39 am

I tried connecting the midi- out -points to the sync out port.
It does send midi now, syncing another volca through that sync out port will not work anymore.

So to keep all functionality an extra jack socket is nescesary.

Carn · Post by **Carn** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 3:19 pm

Hi,

I wanted to try this mod, but I'm a little unclear on one thing, not being too electronics savvy.

Do you have to make a custom mini-jack to Din cable or can you use one ready made like this? http://www.amazon.co.uk/kenable-3-5mm-S ... 25XMFRJW7B

And then just solder the wires to the correct connection on the Volca sync out?

I want to try this on a Keys and Bass

many thanks

chris-korg · Post by **chris-korg** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 7:42 am

Conc. the kenable 5 Pin DIN MIDI Plug:

It says in its description:
"With regards to the photo, going clockwise, the pin out for the 5 pin din to 3.5mm stereo jack plug is: Tip- First pin Middle- Second pin Base- Third pin"

That differs to the description of zenwanger:
Pcb Midi Trs
Tx Pin5 tip
VD Pin4 ring
GND Pin2 Sleeve

So I´m afraid this plug won´t work without manual adjustment (which should not be to difficult)

Carn · Post by **Carn** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 12:55 pm

Ah, got it, tip, ring, sleeve...makes sense now thanks. So I guess hacking the connection shouldn't be too difficult.

cheers

Carn · Post by **Carn** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:14 pm

I found a diagram someone has made of this particular cable if anyone else intends to try and change it.

note, this is before hacking it..