Free-floating Input/Output configuration;
As in: The DIN sockets can be either outputs OR inputs.
I quite often have 2 inputs, but more than 4 outputs to adress…
don’t know if this is technically possible, but it would be a fantastic feature
Separate 5v power input:
My hardware suggestion is very basic in that I think it would be great to have a separate power input into the device. At the moment I use the midi hub as a way of getting midi in and out of 2 separate laptops and multiple other midi devices (TouchOSC, SPD-SX, TD3, Ferrofish A32) going backwards and forwards with lots of filters. The only weakness in the system is that if the laptop that is connected via the USB port loses power or the cable is accidentally unplugged from the midi hub then the whole midi side of the system fails.
I realise this may not be much of a priority for others of course but I use it live on stage where every bit of extra security is welcome.
One extra suggestion:
Would it be possible to have the option in the midi hub editor to set the Preset Change button to operate within a range of presets?
For example if the range was set to 1-2, pressing the button would just alternate between Presets 1 and 2 instead of having to scroll through all the remaining presets?
Or you could set the range to 1-3 where you just have 3 presets to go through if that’s all you are using.
This is such a great product by the way and it has been rock solid so far for me.
You could sort of build a custom USB cable setup that could work in this case - make a little board that splits out the USB cable’s wires so that 5V and GND get connected to a persistent power source such as a regular 5V USB charger and D+, D- and GND wires get connected to a laptop, so it can send & receive USB MIDI data and interact with the Editor. (D+ and D- wires are a differential pair, for this to work, you have to try and keep their lengths equal and as short as possible, and if using wires, the wires should be twisted)
This could be done, maybe as a couple of checkboxes to enable & disable selecting a particular preset using the button.
One idea for a workaround in the mean time - keep multiple copies of the 2 or 3 presets, so every odd preset is the same as 1, and every even preset is the same as preset 2, or keep two identical banks of 4 presets in presets 1-4 and 5-8.
Thanks for the workaround idea for presets. That’s definitely easier than scrolling all the way back to 1!
I like the idea of the tick boxes as this would enable some creative use of the LEDs. For example in some situations switching back and forth between presets 1 and 5 could provide some additional visual clarity as they are in separate LED columns.
I’ll have a think about the power. I like how stable it is at the moment but was also wondering if one of those split usb power cables would work?
Like this: Printer Splitter Cable
It probably cuts off the power supply from one source to the other when switching too, so it wouldn’t work.
However, I managed to find this which seems to be quite close: https://www.amazon.com/Charge-Adapter-Extension-Transfer-Charging/dp/B0711R8828
The only issue is that both USB-A male ends are connected to +5V - ideally you would want to disconnect the +5V wire on the data plug, so it only receives power from a USB charger. Such a Y cable is meant to be connected to a single host computer, so the voltage differences on each cable are quite small. If using a laptop and a USB charger, the voltage differences could be more significant and flow in undesired direction, without any low voltage drop diodes in place.
Thanks a lot for looking up that cable. It gave me another idea. Would something like a manual switch work as an alternative? I was thinking I could just press the button in the event of the laptop going down with one port connected to the laptop and one to a power supply?
Something like this.
Or even something as basic as this.
That might help negate any power differences between the two sources.
These probably do the same thing as the first cable you’ve shown - switching all of the 4 wires from one USB A end to the other USB A end.
This seems a bit weird that it uses only USB A kind of ports - the USB A ports is usually provided on the way towards the host computer, to hook it up, you’d require USB A male ↔ USB A male cable, which is not standard.
The other two devices should work in the way you describe, they’d probably get Midihub powered off briefly, until you flip the switch to connect it to the other power supply.