iConnectivity iConnectMIDI4+, Owner'S Manual

Page 1: ... OWNER S MANUAL ...

Page 2: ...ranty Some regions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state No portion of this warranty may be copied or duplicated without the expressed written permission of iConnectivity THIS WARRANTY IS NOT TRA...

Page 3: ...al installation This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determ...

Page 4: ...hardware 7 Mac OS X set up 12 Windows set up 13 iOS set up 15 Working with multiple iConnectivity interfaces 16 Port Routing understanding iConnectMIDI4 MIDI 17 Audio passThru 20 iConnectivity iConfig software 21 Network MIDI set up 35 Troubleshooting 38 Specifications 40 Appendix MIDI and audio basics 41 Support 44 ...

Page 5: ...ter devices even over Wi Fi if you connect it to a router Using the included iConfig software for Windows Mac and iOS it s simple to configure and store sophisticated snapshots with routing arrangements discrete data filtering merging and or remapping But you don t have to use iConfig all the time The current set up is stored in flash memory on the unit and the default routing works out of the box...

Page 6: ...e interface to a Mac or PC computer A power transformer Please use only the iConnectivity 12V 3A 36W center positive supply or you risk damaging the device This adapter operates over a range of 100 240V 50 or 60Hz so it can be used internationally with wall plug adapters Please contact your dealer or iConnectivity directly if any of these items were not included in the packaging What s in the box ...

Page 7: ...7 The iConnectMIDI4 hardware ...

Page 8: ... mode put the device to sleep and wake it 2 Power LED This light turns green when the device is powered up normally and red when it is about to go into boot loader mode ready to receive firmware updates When the iConnectMIDI4 is in boot loader mode the Power LED turns off and the MIDI 1 through 4 LEDs flash The USB Device jack LED also flashes during boatloader mode when MIDI date is sent and rece...

Page 9: ...th all the other LEDs when the device starts up and when a hard reset is about to begin Finally the USB Device jack LED also flashes during boatloader mode when MIDI date is sent and received over the rear panel USB Device jack 6 Network jack LED This light indicates that MIDI data is being sent to or received over the network It also lights up along with the other LEDs when the device starts up a...

Page 10: ...ar panel provides no charging power so given a choice you would use it for a Mac or Windows computer 12 USB Host jack This USB 2 0 jack accepts USB MIDI Class Compliant devices only Its primary function is to accept a MIDI controller that uses USB MIDI rather than 5 pin DIN connections however it is not limited to controllers The USB Host jack provides up to eight banks of 16 MIDI channels which c...

Page 11: ...12V 3A 36W center positive transformer or you risk damaging the device This adapter operates over a range of 100 240V 50 or 60Hz so it can be used internationally with wall plug adapters Note You can use the Power button to put the iConnectMIDI4 into bootloader mode to receive firmware updates When it starts up it waits for the power to stabilize before loading its firmware if the Power button is ...

Page 12: ... a 4 in 2 out audio interface in the Audio Devices window 2 Optional but recommended to avoid confusion in larger set ups In Audio MIDI Setup create and cable connected MIDI hardware devices to the iConnectMIDI4 MIDI DIN jacks This will allow your sequencer to address the hardware by name rather than just the port name and you can provide some basic information about the hardware here Please refer...

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Page 14: ...ws computer The iConnectMIDI4 will appear in your MIDI software as an available MIDI interface with four 16 channel ports In the following dialog in the Plogue Bidule host for example the MIDI interface is called USB Audio Device 2 For audio set up go to www ASIO4all com to download and install ...

Page 15: ...audio interfaces installed on the Windows computer as shown above they are automatically aggregated into what appears to the software as a single interface with combined number of outputs in each one This is automatic when you select the ASIO4all driver Whether the iConnectMIDI4 s audio I Os are numbered before after or in between other interfaces connected to your Windows computer may be arbitrar...

Page 16: ...pps will use it for MIDI input and output without intervention This is the case with Apple GarageBand for example However some apps typically ones capable of supporting multiple MIDI interfaces e g Network MIDI an iConnectivity interface require that you select the interface s to be used Note because the iOS device uses the iConnectMIDI4 for audio I O when it s connected some not all apps ignore t...

Page 17: ...t an iConnectivity interface to the iConnectMIDI4 s USB Host jack because the computer device only sees one device the iConnectMIDI4 The computer can send MIDI to the connected interface via iConnectMIDI4 ports but this is an unusual set up that s prone to MIDI feedback loops and the connection is disabled by default this is the Routing between ports on multi port USB devices parameter under the M...

Page 18: ...ce jacks each supporting 16 MIDI ports 48 ports One USB host jack supporting eight MIDI ports could be one port on eight MIDI devices eight ports on one MIDI device or any combination 8 ports One Ethernet jack which supports four rtpMIDI on Windows or Network MIDI on Mac and iOS sessions each session is one port 4 ports The default routing remember this can be changed Each MIDI DIN jack routes to ...

Page 19: ...SB Host jack routes to all four pairs of MIDI DIN jacks Host port 1 goes to all three USB Device jack s 7 Host port 2 goes to USB Device jack s port 8 etc through Host jack 6 going to Device jack s port 12 Host jacks 7 and 8 are not routed to USB Device jacks in the default set up the seven other ports on the USB Host jack ports aren t routed to themselves all four ports on the ethernet jack Each ...

Page 20: ...6 ports on each jack That means each USB Device jack can connect to 16 other devices Excluding itself that leaves two devices unattached but you can change the default routing to send the same ports to two devices Under the assumption that MIDI sent over Ethernet is probably coming from a remote computer rather than a MIDI controller Ethernet ports are not routed to the other Ethernet ports in the...

Page 21: ...erface Second it doesn t have or need analog to digital and v v converters because the source of the audio going over the Audio passThru bus is always a track or instrument plug in running on one of the computer devices The iConnectMIDI4 can stream up to eight channels of audio depending on the sample rate and bit depth setting you choose in the iConnectivity iConfig software These must be set in ...

Page 22: ...es that make working with sophisticated systems very simple You can name inputs route MIDI selectively and process MIDI in various ways The interface itself stores one Snapshot in its onboard flash memory the active one but you can store an unlimited number of these files on your computer device open them in iConfig and then Commit to Flash iConfig is the same on Mac and Windows and while the basi...

Page 23: ...MIDI4 and an iConnectMIDI2 Should any of your iConnectivity devices fail to appear the most likely culprit has to be an unplugged or bad cable Check your connections and click Refresh Then the program opens with the Device Info screen Here you see information about your connected devices note that you can change the Device Name field to something custom this might be especially useful in larger se...

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Page 25: ... of the 64 potential 16 channel MIDI ports available in your interface Please refer to the previous section Port routing understanding iConnectMIDI4 MIDI for an explanation You can give ports custom names in the editable Port Name fields and also each port s MIDI input and output can be enabled disabled individually ...

Page 26: ...e amount of MIDI data that must be sent It works by assuming that the first part of the message the Status byte for example Note On is the same as in the previous message therefore only the Data bytes need to be sent With Running Status disabled the Status byte is followed by the Data bytes as normal e g This is a note Status it s a C3 at velocity 105 etc etc Data with Running Status enabled only ...

Page 27: ... you want them to go only where you want them to go Ports are shown in the left column and potential routing routes in the right one Just select a Port in the Ports column and enable or disable each route in the Port Routing column on the right To select multiple Ports hold down the command key on Mac and the Windows key in Windows In the following screen you can see that iConnectMIDI4 MIDI DIN 1 ...

Page 28: ...want hardwired to a percussion module Or perhaps you don t need the computer device connected to iConnectMIDI4 USB jack 1 to see the MIDI keyboard connected to DIN jack 1 Port Filters tab This matrix is for filtering various types of MIDI data on input and or output To use it select the Port s to be filtered in the Port column Also choose whether you re filtering the input or output Then select th...

Page 29: ...ing an arguably obsolete command designed to let you know when a device has gone offline usually because it s unplugged is filtered by default Channel Remap tab The Channel Remap matrix allows you to change various types of incoming or outgoing MIDI data from one channel to another To use it select the Port s to be filtered in the Port column Also choose whether you re filtering the input or outpu...

Page 30: ... the Remap to Channel row Controller Filters tab The Controller Filters matrix lets you enable disable up to eight different MIDI Controller messages on each MIDI channel on input or output It works the same way as the other matrixes select the Port s to be filtered in the Port column and choose whether you re filtering the input or output ...

Page 31: ...ach row lets you select one of the 127 MIDI Controllers from the Controller ID drop downs Only the first 30 or so are shown below but all 127 controllers in the MIDI spec are there if you continue scrolling down ...

Page 32: ... convert MIDI CC 1 Modulation to 7 Main Volume Start by selecting the Port s to be remapped in the Port column and choose whether you re converting the input or output Then choose the Controller types in the Source and Destination drop downs on each row and enable disable the MIDI channels you want the conversion to apply to The lists of available controllers are identical to the one in the Contro...

Page 33: ... e g Mac Audio MIDI Setup Audio Information The iConnectMIDI4 can route a number of channels of audio to and from each computer device connected to its USB jacks A stereo track or instrument plug in running in a sequencer counts as two audio channels and a mono track or instrument is one channel Audio Configuration this drop down in the Audio Information window offers a choice of seven different c...

Page 34: ...ce that processes digital audio audio goes into a buffer before it is processed in the iConnectMIDI4 for routing and it takes a small fraction of a second for audio to fill the buffer as it streams through This latency is compensated for with the Sync factor value parameter so that incoming and outgoing audio is in sync The larger the audio frame buffer the longer this takes but the lower the stra...

Page 35: ...software has a different look from the computer versions because its user interface is designed for touchscreen devices So instead of clicking on tabs you tap areas on the screen The functions are the same however and the interface is completely intuitive ...

Page 36: ...The ethernet switcher must have its own power supply There are up to four Network MIDI sessions each with one bank of 16 MIDI channels Each session is dedicated to one computer device Mac set up Open the Audio MIDI Setup program found inside Applications Utilities In the MIDI Window double click the Network icon to open the MIDI Network Setup Window A list of the four ethernet sessions and any add...

Page 37: ... enable it You may give it your own name in the righthand column Click on in this example ETH1 then on the Connect button to connect ETH1 to the session Session 1 unless you ve renamed it now appears in the list of available interfaces in your music software and you can quit Audio MIDI Setup You may or may not have to re connect to the session next time you start your computer ...

Page 38: ...38 Windows set up using rtpMIDI The free rtpMIDI driver for Windows looks just the same as above Please download and install it then follow the same instructions ...

Page 39: ...rogram can get confused and become unresponsive for any number of reasons The solution is often to quit and re launch the application This is the procedure in iOS 7 and later push the Home button double push the Home button to bring up the running apps list swipe up on the app s small window and it will disappear No audio from iOS device s speaker earphones and or microphones When the iConnectMIDI...

Page 40: ...onfig software is supported by your iOS app DAWs generally support them all If not change it iOS device will not charge As described in the section iConnectMIDI4 front and back note the differences in charging capability between the three USB Device jacks USB Device jack 1 will charge any iOS device Device jack 2 has enough power to charge an iPhone or iPod touch but only keep an iPad charged and ...

Page 41: ... no charging power 1 USB 2 0 Host jack for MIDI Class Compliant devices 4 pairs of MIDI DIN jacks Ethernet Network port Body Durable construction out of Rugged steel brushed metal finish Dimensions Specifications Width 215 mm Depth 138 mm Height 38mm without feet 40mm with feet Weight 1 005kG 35 5 oz ...

Page 42: ...e ports found on every piece of MIDI equipment from 1983 through today although the iConnectMIDI4 has some very clever processing and routing tricks up its sleeve Digital audio on the other hand is the actual sound not the instructions for playing it If you sing or play an instrument into a microphone the sound waves in the air are moving a diaphragm that varies the strength of an electromagnet it...

Page 43: ...andard DIN ports in other words they have the equivalent of built in MIDI interfaces that connect directly to a computer Those devices don t need to go through the iConnectMIDI4 Plug them directly into your computer to which they ll appear as additional MIDI interfaces You can route MIDI from the computer to the iConnectMIDI4 and anything connected to it If you run out of USB ports USB hubs are ve...

Page 44: ... In and not shown in the illustration above your third instrument s Out to the iConnectMIDI4 MIDI DIN in And so on You will almost certainly want to divide the 16 MIDI channels on each port between the instruments so that they don t all play at once Daisy chaining lots of instruments is not ideal For larger set ups we recommend additional iConnect interfaces to accommodate all your instruments ...

Page 45: ... FAQs for each product and access our community forum for discussions on unique rig set ups product uses and more Direct Email support iConnectivity com Tel 1 403 457 1122 Support Hours Monday to Friday 8 30 am MST to 4 30 pm MST Mail iConnectivity 21 1725 30 Avenue NE Calgary AB T2E 7P6 Canada ...