Can the MS20ic control hardware

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:22 am

Hi. Can the MS20ic controller control hardware modules if the proper usb to midi interface is used? Also, wuill it control other software that is from other manufacturers? Thanks

Etaoin · Post by **Etaoin** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:25 pm

supermel74 wrote:Hi. Can the MS20ic controller control hardware modules if the proper usb to midi interface is used?

"the proper interface" would be a computer with the Korg driver. But yes, it can control hardware. I use it a lot for that purpose in fact.

Also, wuill it control other software that is from other manufacturers?[

Yes, it's a controller like any other, even though it looks like an MS20. It puts out CC's for all the knobs. You need to do the mapping, of course.

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 6:03 pm

Etaoin wrote:
supermel74 wrote:Hi. Can the MS20ic controller control hardware modules if the proper usb to midi interface is used?
"the proper interface" would be a computer with the Korg driver. But yes, it can control hardware. I use it a lot for that purpose in fact

I don't quite understand this. Can I use the MS20ic with a usb to midi connector hooked up to a hardware module with no computer involved at all just as I would use any other midi controller? It appears that the usb connection on the back of the controller is not the standard connection used with most usb to midi interfaces. What I want to do is connect it directly to a Proteus 2000.

rich_h · Post by **rich_h** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:44 am

You can't use it how you describe because of the way that USB works - the computer is a USB host to which you connect USB devices (in this case the MS20iC is a device) and MIDI to USB converters allow a USB _host_ to be connected to MIDI.

The connection on the MS20iC is a standard USB 'B' port.

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:32 am

rich_h wrote:You can't use it how you describe because of the way that USB works - the computer is a USB host to which you connect USB devices (in this case the MS20iC is a device) and MIDI to USB converters allow a USB _host_ to be connected to MIDI.

The connection on the MS20iC is a standard USB 'B' port.

Ok I see. Korg really screwed that up in my opinion then because the unit would have been a lot more useful if it could be used as a standard midi controller as well.

Ben Hall · Post by **Ben Hall** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 2:55 pm

Seeing as it's designed as a controller for the software, it seems likely that 100% of the people buying the original Legacy package are using it as part of a computer based setup, therefore you can use the controller to control any device with the computer as a hub

So I hardly think they "screwed up" - you just want to use it in a way it wasn't designed for...

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:37 pm

Ben Hall wrote:Seeing as it's designed as a controller for the software, it seems likely that 100% of the people buying the original Legacy package are using it as part of a computer based setup, therefore you can use the controller to control any device with the computer as a hub

So I hardly think they "screwed up" - you just want to use it in a way it wasn't designed for...

Most midi controllers are capable of doing both so I would say that not being able to control both software and hardware is definately a shortcoming.

rich_h · Post by **rich_h** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:52 pm

Except the most other controllers were designed to be standalone devices, whereas the MS20iC was designed to control a specific piece of software.

If the MS20iC was sold separately to the Legacy Collection then I might well agree with you.

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 5:54 am

rich_h wrote:Except the most other controllers were designed to be standalone devices, whereas the MS20iC was designed to control a specific piece of software.

If the MS20iC was sold separately to the Legacy Collection then I might well agree with you.

I agree, less capable gear is better

RVNOak · Post by **RVNOak** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:20 pm

I don't even use the MS20ic as I controll all of the Legacy Collection from the Triton Extreme or Studio. It's better that way as I use MIDI instead of USB - a lot faster, clearer notes with way less latency.

dave · Post by **dave** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:03 pm

I agree. USB was designed for input from computer peripherals like a mouse or keyboard. Where real-time high-speed input is required, as in playing music, MIDI is required IMO.

My MS-20ic serves as a talking point in my room. It's not even connected to anything.

Kind regards.

Mad Jack · Post by **Mad Jack** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:41 pm

Well, I suppose they could have added a MIDI-OUT connector to the controller, but that would have added to the cost. And even then they would have had to make provision for an alternative source of power for the unit (Korg's own specially designed multi-purpose controllers use USB, PSU or batteries.) That's a lot of extra expense for a feature that most people probably don't either need or want.

RVNOak · Post by **RVNOak** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:52 pm

Very good point!!

Etaoin · Post by **Etaoin** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:10 am

RVNOak wrote:I don't even use the MS20ic as I controll all of the Legacy Collection from the Triton Extreme or Studio. It's better that way as I use MIDI instead of USB - a lot faster, clearer notes with way less latency.

And your MIDI interface is not USB?

I mean, even USB1 is already about 400 times faster than MIDI, so it's lack of the bandwidth that is causing latency, it must be something else.

Ben Hall · Post by **Ben Hall** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:13 pm

I've never heard the terms "faster" and "less latency" being used to describe MIDI..!

USB is *waaayyy* faster than MIDI, but the jitter is a little higher, as I understand.

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Can the MS20ic control hardware

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