Not sure if this is the place to ask this, but thought I would give it a go.
I am trying to connect a Keystep Pro to a Synthstrom Deluge via the Midihub using a variety of WIDI things!
The Midihub has a WIDI Jack, the Keystep a WIDI UHost and the Deluge a WIDI Master.
I can communicate directly from the Keystep to the Deluge, no problem. I can communicate from the Keystep to the Midii Hub, no problem and I can communicate from the Midihub to the Deluge, no problem.
I can’t figure out how to link all three together. I know I could use cables to connect, but I was hoping for a Bluetooth MIDI solution.
Any ideas as to how I might get the three things working together? Or am I trying to achieve the impossible?
Your post made me go find out about WIDI (wondering about whether to indulge so thx for that!)
I dunno if this is still a live query for you but I did find this† in my reading
Advanced Mode: WIDI Groups
… you can create groups of max. 5 WIDI devices. In essence this means you can now replace your MIDI Thru and Merge boxes. Thus maybe even your MIDI interface. By bypassing those middle men, you can optimise performance of your MIDI setups ánd go completely wireless.
When pairing 2 WIDI devices, this is done fully automatically. You do not need to worry about a thing. The WIDI devices pair and automatically switch between the central and peripheral role. This is Bluetooth wording for the things we used to know in the world of MIDI as master and slave. Also, they transmit MIDI messages bi-directionally. You simply power up your WIDI devices, and the rest is fully automated.
…
When you go into more complex setups with wireless group connectivity, you need to educate yourself to fully benefit from these features. For instance, your group always has 1 central. Besides this you can add up to 4 peripherals. This means you need to manually force the role of your WIDI devices first.
(my bold italics)
the image also hints it’s possible (I see Midihub in the centre!)…
…but all we basically learn from the wording is “you need to manually force the role of your WIDI devices”.
Doesn’t exactly say how, does it?!
maybe here? Yeah
Thanks for the response, your suggestion of putting MIDI Hub in the Central role was the key piece of info. I had been assuming that the keyboard would be the Central device. I now have them all connected and working well. The Midihub and the Keystep Pro can both be powered by an external battery, the Deluge has an internal battery, they provide enough power for the WIDI’s, so I now have a totally portable system. Perfect!!
Thought I would post the steps in case anyone else has a problem. The set-up is:-
Keystep Pro with a WIDI Master connected to MIDI In and MIDI Out.
Synthstrom Deluge with a WIDI Master connected to MIDI in and MIDI Out.
Midihub with a WIDI Jack (I used the WIDI Jack as it is easier to connect to the Midihub) connected to Midi In A and MIDI Out A.
I used an iPad to set it all up but I am sure an Android tablet would work too, as would an Android phone and an iPhone.
Using the WIDI App on the iPad
Switch on the first WIDI device, when it connects to the App, select it and give it a unique name and set the “BLE Role” to “Force peripheral (to computers)”
Switch off the device.
Switch on the second device and repeat steps one and two.
Switch on the third device and repeat steps one and two.
And so on for up to 5 devices.
Power on all devices.
In the WIDI App select the “Groups” Tab
Select “+ Add a new Group”
Give the Group a name (In the box at the top of the screen)
Drag the Midihub device to the box for “Central” and all the other devices to the boxes under “Peripheral”. This is where I was going wrong, I had assumed the keyboard would be Central and the Midihub and Deluge would be Peripheral. But the Midihub needs to be Central as it receives data from the keyboard and passes it to the Deluge.
Click on “Download group” at the foot of the screen to update all the devices.
IMPORTANT - Power of all the devices.
On iPads and iPhones, you now need to go into Settings>Bluetooth> and click on each of the WIDI devices in turn, and choose “Forget this Device”. This is because the iPad will try and automatically connect to the devices and this causes connection issues. Don’t know if this is an issue on Android devices.
Power on all the devices, they will now all connect, with the Midihub acting as the central device. Make sure that there is a pipeline between MIDI In A and MIDI out A and you are good to go.
I wonder whether Derek’s comprehensive instructions for the WIDI solution would fit nicely in a new Tutorial Development topic covering Connections.
If this is likely to be useful, let me know and I’ll be happy to put together a few connection diagrams as place-holders for some of the various combinations†.
† PS. Derek, I didn’t study the WIDI permutations ultra closely; can you use a WIDI box to connect to(&power) a USB-only controller so as to send its message on via Bluetooth?
As far as I am aware you can’t use a WIDI device to power a USB controller, but you can certainly use the WIDI UHost with a USB Controller. I use mine on a Novation Launchkey and it works a treat. A portable USB power pack gives sufficient power to power both the Launchkey and the WIDI Uhost.
There is also a WIDI Bud Pro. Which I haven’t tried. It just plugs into the devices USB and provides MIDI over bluetooth, but again it would need to be plugged into a powered device.
The best WIDI device to use with the Midihub is the WIDI Jack with the 5 pin DIN cables. It comes with a small magnet which lets it sit fairly unobtrusively on the Midihub.
