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Searching for 5 Pin DIN MIDI to USB converter

Connecting Hauptwerk to MIDI organs, sequencers, ...
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pblais

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Searching for 5 Pin DIN MIDI to USB converter

PostTue May 09, 2017 11:11 am

Hi everyone.
I am gathering the parts to make my pedal board, piston, swell and crescendo board assembly. For the pedals I rescued a small 13 pedal assembly from an old home organ. It will trigger the notes of a small USB MIDI keyboard I had laying around. I will just "wire" the switches from the pedals into the keyboard that I will integrate into the completed unit.
For the piston, swell and crescendo control, I ordered an "open item" Behringer FCB1010 MIDI foot controller from Guitar Center yesterday. I just realized from looking at the user manual for the FCB1010 that it uses the older round 5 pin DIN connectors for MIDI. I will need to convert that to USB.
I plan on putting a powered USB hub inside my assembly into which I will plug the MIDI keyboard and whatever USB MIDI converter I use on the FCB1010.
Herein lies my question. What do you all recommend for that converter. I have seen where one user has used the Roland UM MK2 but has not had good results with Hauptwerk recognizing it and whatever device is connected to it. Is there anything else that you might recommend?

Thank you in advance
Regards
Pierre
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mdyde

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Re: Searching for 5 Pin DIN MIDI to USB converter

PostTue May 09, 2017 11:20 am

Hello Pierre,

pblais wrote: I have seen where one user has used the Roland UM MK2 but has not had good results with Hauptwerk recognizing it and whatever device is connected to it.


I think you might be referring to this post: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16117&p=121086#p121086 .

If so, that wasn't actually any fault or compatibility issue -- the problem was simply that its owner hadn't installed the driver for his Roland UM. I don't think I'm aware of any reasons not to use a Roland UM Mk2 (although I don't have one myself). Roland's products are usually good-quality, so I would expect it to be a perfectly valid choice.
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.
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murph

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Re: Searching for 5 Pin DIN MIDI to USB converter

PostTue May 09, 2017 5:03 pm

I used a Roland UM3 for years and it was flawless in operation. (I wish they were still available. Incredibly useful little boxes.. Midi through on each input (hardwired, no latency), daisy-chainable to 9 midi ins. Just works with everything. Really good.)
I would not hesitate to use one of the smaller units at all. (Just make sure there are drivers for your operating system.....)
For the FCB, I used to use an Alesis midi-usb cable for that, with the pedal-board daisy-chained through it. Again, always worked flawlessly.(+ It's USB HID class-compliant, which means no drivers needed. Ever!)


(In case you are wondering why I don't use them anymore, these days, I have a MOTU Midi-Express XT, which is probably a bit expensive for your purposes......)
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eruppenthal

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Re: Searching for 5 Pin DIN MIDI to USB converter

PostMon May 15, 2017 8:04 pm

I have seen where one user has used the Roland UM MK2 but has not had good results with Hauptwerk recognizing it and whatever device is connected to it.

Here's the problem I have with this Roland device and Windows 10. There are no available drivers for download. You have to rely on the Win10 mechanism for installing the driver. When I first got the device (last week) it successfully installed. The following day, Windows forced an upgrade on my PC, and it hasn't worked since. Device Manager says there's no driver, the Win10 driver update mechanism can't find a driver, the Roland support site has no drivers available for download. Roland doesn't offer email support to non-US customers so I've posted a complaint in one of the Roland forums - still waiting for a response:
https://rolandcanada.zendesk.com/hc/en- ... ors-Update
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organtechnology

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Re: Searching for 5 Pin DIN MIDI to USB converter

PostMon May 15, 2017 8:53 pm

eruppenthal wrote:
I have seen where one user has used the Roland UM MK2 but has not had good results with Hauptwerk recognizing it and whatever device is connected to it.

Here's the problem I have with this Roland device and Windows 10. There are no available drivers for download. You have to rely on the Win10 mechanism for installing the driver. When I first got the device (last week) it successfully installed. The following day, Windows forced an upgrade on my PC, and it hasn't worked since. Device Manager says there's no driver, the Win10 driver update mechanism can't find a driver, the Roland support site has no drivers available for download. Roland doesn't offer email support to non-US customers so I've posted a complaint in one of the Roland forums - still waiting for a response:
https://rolandcanada.zendesk.com/hc/en- ... ors-Update


Perhaps you should go back to Windows 7 Pro 64bit?
Complete Hauptwerk™ systems using real wood consoles, PC Sound Engines, Dante Audio for Home or Church. info (at) organtechnology.com http://www.organtechnology.com
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jkinkennon

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Re: Searching for 5 Pin DIN MIDI to USB converter

PostTue May 16, 2017 11:19 am

murph wrote:For the FCB, I used to use an Alesis midi-usb cable for that, with the pedal-board daisy-chained through it. Again, always worked flawlessly.(+ It's USB HID class-compliant, which means no drivers needed. Ever!)


This would be the preferable choice in my opinion. Class-compliant is ideal and I've used that approach with MIDI encoders with no issues for a number of years now.

For the Roland UM Mk2 there is a Windows 10 driver on the Roland site. Does that driver not work? Don't rely on Windows telling you that you have the right driver.

Another good choice that also requires a driver is the Yamaha UX-16. Also, MOTU makes a variety of interfaces priced according to how many MIDI devices they handle.
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eruppenthal

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Re: Searching for 5 Pin DIN MIDI to USB converter

PostSun May 21, 2017 6:06 am

For the Roland UM Mk2 there is a Windows 10 driver on the Roland site.

No, there is not. There's a file, but it contains no drivers. Only instructions to let Windows 10 manage the driver download and install.
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eruppenthal

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Re: Searching for 5 Pin DIN MIDI to USB converter

PostSun May 21, 2017 6:12 am

organtechnology wrote:
eruppenthal wrote:Here's the problem I have with this Roland device and Windows 10. There are no available drivers for download. You have to rely on the Win10 mechanism for installing the driver. When I first got the device (last week) it successfully installed. The following day, Windows forced an upgrade on my PC, and it hasn't worked since. Device Manager says there's no driver, the Win10 driver update mechanism can't find a driver, the Roland support site has no drivers available for download. Roland doesn't offer email support to non-US customers so I've posted a complaint in one of the Roland forums - still waiting for a response:
https://rolandcanada.zendesk.com/hc/en- ... ors-Update


Perhaps you should go back to Windows 7 Pro 64bit?


Tempting, but Windows 7 reached end of mainstream support in 2015.
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schultzpo

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Re: Searching for 5 Pin DIN MIDI to USB converter

PostThu May 25, 2017 4:40 am

I have a Roland UM-ONE-MK2 on my desktop with Win 10 and the latest updates (64 bit OS version 1703) and it works fine. I just tried it on my laptop ( also with Win 10 and latest updates) which didn't have the UM-ONE previously installed. I connected the UM-ONE (after power up) and it found the drivers almost immediately and after a couple of minutes the light came on and Win reported a successful install.
It's of little help for you but the UM-ONE works fine on at least two Win 10 machines.
Driver details: Roland date 2015-07-21, Version 1.0.0.0, Digitally signed by Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher
Per S

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