MicroKorgs and USB Interfaces

Vort3x · Post by **Vort3x** » Fri Jan 17, 2014 5:47 pm

Hello all,

Just a quick question; I want to be able to use the Korg patch editor with my MicroKorg (arrived today woo!) but I don't have a MIDI port on my computer, I've also read that a lot of 'USB/MIDI Interfaces' do not work.

Any suggestions are appreciated and I'm on a fairly tight budget so cheap is good.

Best regards,
Sam

cvtele · Post by **cvtele** » Fri Jan 17, 2014 11:53 pm

I just use a very cheap usb-midi cable like this one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-USB-to-MIDI- ... 4acd6d32fa

Works great.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Sat Jan 18, 2014 2:27 am

Which specific MicroKorg model do you have? Classic, XL, XL+???

If you have the XL or XL+, then all you need is a standard USB cable. If you have a MK Classic, then you need some USB midi interface. A lot of audio interfaces have midi ports built in, so most of us don't buy midi-only interfaces, since the money is better spent on the audio I/O. A lot of the el cheap feebay USB-midi "cables" don't work right. There is no such thing as a USB-midi cable, by the way. It's a bit like a water to gasoline converter hose. Some people may claim to sell one, then you find that it's not possible to make one. There are USB to midi interfaces that are disguised to look like a cable.

So get yourself a good, name-brand audio I/O box that has midi built-in. It will work and it should have online support with updated drivers if there's any problem. I like the Maudio Fasttrack Pro but there's plenty of other good ones available too.

Vort3x · Post by **Vort3x** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 6:33 pm

I ordered one similar to the one pictured above, Fruity Loops will detect the keyboard however the KORG sound editor will not.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 9:08 pm

Yes, those elcheapo midi interface "cables" often don't work for the sysex commands used by the editor software.

That's why I explained to "...get yourself a good, name-brand audio I/O box that has midi built-in. It will work and it should have online support with updated drivers if there's any problem. I like the Maudio Fasttrack Pro but there's plenty of other good ones available too." The interface you have is not a good, name-brand audio I/O box that has midi built-in. Therefore I'm not surprised at all that it doesn't work and it probably doesn't have online support with updated drivers to fix the problem.

Sysex commands involve long streams of data that require drivers with proper buffering to prevent data overflow and loss of command data. These cheap midi interfaces often screw up the buffering in the drivers. This can be confirmed with using the MIDI-OX software, but that's usually a waste of time because this is a well-known problem that has been repeatedly reported here and diagnosed in the past. In addition to getting a name-brand I/O box that has built-in midi, you can also purchase a name-brand midi only interface that has online support and updated drivers, along with a 30 day return policy to the retailer if it doesn't work. But most of the name-brand products do work for sysex. Get one of those and you'll probably be good to go with the editor.

orthodox_caveman · Post by **orthodox_caveman** » Tue Feb 04, 2014 6:53 am

What kind of computer do you have?

I am starting to record music for the first time in my life and ran into a similar issue.

I currently record my Korg XL this way:

I have a Macbook pro and an Apogee Duet Audio interface.

http://apogeedigital.com/products/duet2.php

I can record my synth by running a guitar cable (1/4" to 1/4") into the input jack of the Duet. Next, I run the USB from the Duet to my Macbook pro. I then record the output from my synth, into the Duet, then out to my Macbook running Ableton 9 where I record the sounds.

The sound quality is superb. Totally beat my expectations and it's been easy enough for someone like me who's never taken a class or recorded music before to figure it out.

If you haven't looked into the duet...it can also record a million other things like Mics and guitar and can even output to things like recording monitors or PA systems.

Definitely worth considering.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Tue Feb 04, 2014 9:33 am

You're only recording half of your MicroKorg if you use only a single 1/4" cable to connect it to the audio I/O box. The MicroKorg has stereo output and requires both outputs to be connected to record all the stereo effects.

orthodox_caveman · Post by **orthodox_caveman** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 6:46 am

xmlguy wrote:You're only recording half of your MicroKorg if you use only a single 1/4" cable to connect it to the audio I/O box. The MicroKorg has stereo output and requires both outputs to be connected to record all the stereo effects.

Thanks for the tip. I was under the impression that Korg would still output stereo effects when only using one output.

I suspect this would not be a valid alternative...but would something like this work where I combine two inputs? (see link below)

http://ikalaj.com/korg1.jpg

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 7:31 am

You can't combine two outputs to a single input using a Y-adapter or cable, at least not without the risk of burning up both outputs. Most stereo keyboards have a L/Mono output and a R output. If you only want mono and use a single cable, then you plug in only one cable to L/Mono and it internally mixes both channels together. You lose all the stereo effects this way. To preserve the full stereo capability of the keyboard, you must have both outputs each go to a separate input on the audio I/O box and then record to a stereo track in the software. So that the standard way to record stereo keyboards.