MIDI MERGE setup

D

Diego Higueras

Member
Hi,
I'm having my pbc6x setup to midi merge on, i made a Y cable pluged with midi pins 3 (to 5) and 4(to 1) as described in the manual. i'm using my own made midi controller to do some extra stuff to it goes out from my midi controller to the pbc then to the rest of my pedals ( 4 in series ).
The pbc doesnt send the midi it receives, i've tested my midi controller and it works fine if i pluge it to the first pedal it controls everything, but when pluged to the pbc, it just doesnt TRHU the midi data...
should be some configuration problem, where should i check???
thanks !
 
The MIDI Merge setting is the only setting involved.

Assuming that the cable is wired correctly (Pins 1 and 3 on the PBC to pins 4 and 5 on the MIDI In connector), then I'm not sure what else it could be. Can you send the PBC MIDI program changes from your controller? Set MIDI Receive Channel in the PBC's MIDI settings so some channel, and have the controller send PCs on that channel. Does it change presets on the PBC?
 
hello, thanks for the reply.
I doble checked the conections and mesure it, all ok.
Changed the chanel on the PBC, tried many chanels, no reaction.
Then i put the midi clock on SLAVE, and it started to receive the midi, so i could change the presets with PC messages.
The merge is not working, i could make it work for 1 CC message to bypass a pedal but thats all, i'm sending CC messages, my midi controller takes the input of 2 expression pedal and thansform it in midi, so there a lot of CC messages going there, and all of them dont get out of the PBC... seems like a software problem, is the merge system complete software (i guess it is) or there is some hardware involved that could be damaged ( i dont know how) ?
Thanks
 
Just tried a factory reset and set the midi to merge, did many test again same results. No merge going but taking midi PC messages for himself only...
i'm an electronics technician so you can tell me to measure or do more complicated tests
thanks
 
Are you saying some of the CC messages don't get through, or none of them get through? Have you tried it with a different MIDI controller plugged into the PBC's MIDI input?
 
it just happened once, not happening any more.
How is it possible that all other 3 midi pedals that has input and output and merge options does the job without missing any messages, just pbc doesnt. We both know that there is no risk from a wrong connection at the input midi circuit and it should have an optocoupler for electrical isolation. Anyway the PBC is taking very well all PC from my controller, just not merging all other Messages.
It seams like a problem with the firmware...
 
I don't know, no one else has reported this problem. If it was firmware related, I would think that I would have heard about it from others..

On your controller, are you supplying 5 volts to pin 4 on the MIDI output connector? I've seen issues when using controllers that have a lower voltage on that pin.
 
Thanks for the tip, actually my midi controller is having 4,65V on pin 4. So i took another midi controller to try, mesure it first and has a good 5V. Made the test and nothing again.

My chain is :
My own midi controller -> PBC/6X -> Strymon Big Sky -> Strymon Timeline -> HX Stomp.
From HX Stomp MIDI out there is a Y cable to go to EHX HOG2 and EHX 8 step Program

The facts :
1)The PBC takes incoming PC messages for his listening chanel witout a miss, from both midi controllers i've used.
2)all the rest of my midi pedals takes messages from both midi controllers i have and the PBC.
3)If i plug any of my midi controllers to the MIDI in of my Big Sky, all other pedals receives the midi messages correctly, PC and CC messages.

I've made another test changing the order of the chain, so i go like this

Midi controller -> Big Sky -> PBC -> HOG2

Same results, big sky and PBC get the midi messages without a problem, HOG2 doesnt, if i go directly to HOG2 it does.
I think clearly that my 2 midi controllers works just fine sending the MIDI data

only conclusion i can get is that the PBC is NOT merging incomming MIDI messages...
 
Ok, I found the issue. You're correct, it's a firmware issue. The PBC, as it is now, never merges messages coming in from the same physical port. This is to protect from feedback loops with devices that support bidirectional MIDI. On previous Masterminds, it's never been an issue because they have separate MIDI inputs. It's a different story on the PBC6 and its single MIDI port. It will merge from USB, but not anything else.

The solution is to add an option to merge from the input side of the MIDI Out port. I will add that to my to do list.
 
OK
Now i get it...

My problem is that i designed my pedalboard counting on this fact, i choosed the PBC/6X because of the merging, i knew there wasnt a second physical midi port but with a special cable it could be done. It is specified on the manual, i read it before buying the PBC/6X.
This problem is not specified in the manual.

I think this is not a simple change for a "Todo list" cause is not a minor improovement, is making the PBC to do whats it says it does on the manual.
"MIDI MERGE = When set to "ON", ALL midi messages that are received through the MIDI IN or USB->PC Ports are retransmitted through the MIDI out port. This CANT be enable if midi forward is ON".

What i understood is that when "forward" is ON, it communicates MIDI over USB to a computer or other device. If set to OFF the MIDI over USB communication is stoped, then only MIDI input is through the physical MIDI port.

Please make the necessary changes for this to work, should be a priority on your list.

Thanks, for the rest, i'm in love with this switcher, is very well made and works just perfect
 
Hello,

Please can i have an answer about the release of the next firmware update?
I would like to know if i'll need to buy a Midi merger before my next show. is end of this month.

thanks
 
I will work on it when I can, but I can't guarantee that it will be done by the end of this month. I'm currently working on a firmware release for a different product. When that's done, I can shift my attention to the GT.
 
Firmware 4.5.0 is now available and adds the ability to enable MIDI merge for the In, Out and USB ports independently.
 
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