Hi all.
I'm considering buying myself a new keyboard / digital piano to learn to play piano better. I own a microkorg which is great, but for "normal" playing it doesn't have a real piano sound and they keys are few and small.
I'm not a serious musician and don't know a lot about music production, but find it a fun hobby. I would like the ability to hook the new keyboard up to the MK and use it as an input controller to the MK, mainly because it's easier to play the keys. This would not be the primary purpose of buying the keyboard, but a "nice to have".
However many of the keyboards I'm looking at (eg Yamaha YPG-635) have USB midi output only. Is it possible to hook up USB midi to the MK's 'standard(?)' Midi ports using one straightforward cable? I already own such a cable with 2x Midi ports at one end and USB at the other which I use to connect to my PC - will this work between the keyboard and MK?
Many thanks for your help.
USB Midi to Microkorg
Moderators: Sharp, X-Trade, Pepperpotty, karmathanever
Nope, what you want to do is not possible.
USB-midi can only be connected between a keyboard and a computer. There is no way to send midi directly from one keyboard to another using USB. They both have to have hardware midi to connect to each other, or both be connected to a computer that can send/receive midi to both and relay midi from one to another.
Part of the reason for this is that USB doesn't know anything about midi or music. A special driver is always needed on the computer to convert the USB-midi information from the USB channel into the two midi port channels - send and receive. Midi only allows information to be sent in one direction on a channel at a time, while USB is bi-directional. That's why only one USB cable is needed to send midi in both directions, while two midi cables are needed to do the same thing.
USB-midi can only be connected between a keyboard and a computer. There is no way to send midi directly from one keyboard to another using USB. They both have to have hardware midi to connect to each other, or both be connected to a computer that can send/receive midi to both and relay midi from one to another.
Part of the reason for this is that USB doesn't know anything about midi or music. A special driver is always needed on the computer to convert the USB-midi information from the USB channel into the two midi port channels - send and receive. Midi only allows information to be sent in one direction on a channel at a time, while USB is bi-directional. That's why only one USB cable is needed to send midi in both directions, while two midi cables are needed to do the same thing.
If you buy a professional keyboard instead of a consumer model, you'll be able to do everything you want.
Look at the X50. It has piano and lots of acoustic sounds, and it can control your MicroKorg. The M50 is a more expensive option.
Or you could sell your MicroKorg and upgrade to the R3 (except it has no piano) or MicroKorg XL (it has one acoustic piano).
Or you could sell everything and upgrade to a TritonExtreme+MOSS or M3+RADIAS. This is the best long term option, even if you have to save up and work several hundred hours at minimum wage to do it. An M3-61+RADIAS is less than two months of minimum wage in my state.
Look at the X50. It has piano and lots of acoustic sounds, and it can control your MicroKorg. The M50 is a more expensive option.
Or you could sell your MicroKorg and upgrade to the R3 (except it has no piano) or MicroKorg XL (it has one acoustic piano).
Or you could sell everything and upgrade to a TritonExtreme+MOSS or M3+RADIAS. This is the best long term option, even if you have to save up and work several hundred hours at minimum wage to do it. An M3-61+RADIAS is less than two months of minimum wage in my state.
Many thanks, that's great to know. I've actually just discovered that someone very near me is selling an old but still reasonably decent Yamaha keyboard which has proper midi in/out very cheaply. I'm gonna get that which I'll be able to hook up to the MK. If it's a success and I get good at playing I can then invest in some of the heavier machinery, and if not it's not cost me much!
While I'm here, a supplementary question... The latency when I try to record my MK on PC is Horrific. I am using Vista with a decent spec PC and Sonar Producers Edition 7. I'm fairly sure it's mainly down the the Sound Card which is just a crappy onboard integrated card, but how much difference does the quality of the cable matter? Mine's a cheap, generic entry level thing I found on ebay.
While I'm here, a supplementary question... The latency when I try to record my MK on PC is Horrific. I am using Vista with a decent spec PC and Sonar Producers Edition 7. I'm fairly sure it's mainly down the the Sound Card which is just a crappy onboard integrated card, but how much difference does the quality of the cable matter? Mine's a cheap, generic entry level thing I found on ebay.