LAST NIGHTS DISASTER

tommyh

tommyh

Inspired
Friends ; let me share what happened to me last night. My band was playing the biggest /one of the best clubs on long island . My rig consists of an AXE FX II / ROLAND GR 55 and MFC 101( which i use to control both the axe and the roland gr 55). The band is setting up to do sound check ,i set my rig up ,last thing to do is plug the power supply into the MFC and i'm ready to rock. Unfortunately the power supply cannot be found.( turns out i left it at our studio 30 miles away,and i do not have the time to go get it.Long story short; i ended up editing a few patches in the roland gr 55 and using that as my rig. This was a bit upsetting ,so today i will buy another power supply for the MFC as well as the gr 55 and also have extra midi cables so this never happens again. I hope some of you do the same to avoid this embarrassing situation
 
Doh. If you have an Axe-Fx II XL and an MFC-101 Mark III the Axe-Fx can power the MFC-101 directly via the FASLINK port.
 
tommyh said:
yes ,but then you can not control the roland gr 55 via midi, so i do not carry a fast link cable
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you didn't explain how you are using your rig, just the failure - which was entirely user error.. so while Cliff's post is totally accurate, it obviously is not a consideration in your situation.
Can you share your routing/config?
 
FractalAudio said:
A FASLINK cable is any old mic cable. Every band I've been in has at least a dozen spares.
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LOL - always carry 6+ spares of varying lengths with me.. old sound man habit!

And singers (and some guitar players) NEVER bring their own!
 
FractalAudio said:
A FASLINK cable is any old mic cable. Every band I've been in has at least a dozen spares.
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yes ..i understand (however i did not think of it last nite) again if i changed the MFC to fast link ,it would not change patches in THE GR 55 via midi ..............correct ?
 
I would assume that either the Axefx or MFC would be able to send midi program change. There are midi in/out jacks on each unit.
 
tommyh said:
yes ..i understand (however i did not think of it last nite) again if i changed the MFC to fast link ,it would not change patches in THE GR 55 via midi ..............correct ?
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There is a parameter called mfc echo to midi out or alike in the axe-fx. That lets you send the MFC's commands to the midi ports. It should allow you to send something to the GR 55. Maybe the MFCs midi out could be used as well, I don't know.
 
tommyh said:
MFC 7pin midi out into AXE FX ll midi in ) AXE FX ll midi out into ROLAND GR 55 midi in
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Just replace the 7-pin midi with the 'Faslink' (mark lll) or Ethernet (mark l or ll). Set the MFC to the matching mode. The Axe-Fx will still act as a midi through.
 
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Heh, this is why I carry at least 2, if not 3, of everything possible to a gig.
I have a few bags like this (not 15", I think the ones I have are 12")
http://www.harborfreight.com/15-inch-canvas-tool-bag-32282.html

Each one has a label on it for what it carries - cables, power adapters, soldering kit (yes, I've used this at a gig before) + solder, hand tools etc. etc.

I do like Cliff's idea too on running FASLINK for power - I typically use a long ethernet cable I made for my MFC, but it's good to know other options in case of issues :)
 
selta said:
Heh, this is why I carry at least 2, if not 3, of everything possible to a gig.
I have a few bags like this (not 15", I think the ones I have are 12")
http://www.harborfreight.com/15-inch-canvas-tool-bag-32282.html

Each one has a label on it for what it carries - cables, power adapters, soldering kit (yes, I've used this at a gig before) + solder, hand tools etc. etc.

I do like Cliff's idea too on running FASLINK for power - I typically use a long ethernet cable I made for my MFC, but it's good to know other options in case of issues :)
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i wish you were in my band .lol
 
tommyh said:
it turns out my unit does not have a fast link port ; just a cat 5 port
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oops...
One of the challenges with CAT5 (RJ45) is that the connectors were never designed for constant connect/disconnect activity. They - like phone jacks - were intended to connect-and-forget for mostly ethernet. I discovered this when using L6 footswitches..
When CAT5 cable is twisted/torqued it can mess up the pins in the RJ45 socket, leading to weird behavior like you have stated above. I have NOT had this happen with my MFC (Mk1 nor Mk3 - which is FASLink) but make sure your CAT5 cable is flat, and there's no "twist" motion in the cable when you connect - MFC or Axe ends.
 
s0c9 said:
oops...
One of the challenges with CAT5 (RJ45) is that the connectors were never designed for constant connect/disconnect activity. They - like phone jacks - were intended to connect-and-forget for mostly ethernet. I discovered this when using L6 footswitches..
When CAT5 cable is twisted/torqued it can mess up the pins in the RJ45 socket, leading to weird behavior like you have stated above. I have NOT had this happen with my MFC (Mk1 nor Mk3 - which is FASLink) but make sure your CAT5 cable is flat, and there's no "twist" motion in the cable when you connect - MFC or Axe ends.
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im gonna buy another power supply and be done with it,
 
I've had my mfc mess up when my ethernet cable was twisted ,the mfc won't change patches or scenes. Making sure your ethernet plug is in there flat will fix that issue. Think I might try the fastlink
 
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