MIDI Cable for MFC-101 MkIII

chucma

Fractal Fanatic
Hi guys! I'm very confused about which cable I should use to connect my MFC101 MkIII to my Axe FX3. I don't really need bi-directional comms between the Axe and MFC, I literally just want my MFC to be able to change presets/scenes/bypass blocks and don't really mind about the MFC display not being in sync with the Axe FX. Also I’m powering the MFC with the wall plug.

I have a 5pin MIDI cable (both sides), but then the output on the MFC is a 7 pin, does that mean I need to get one of the 5-7pin MIDI cables as discussed in this thread?

Bidirectional midi?


Or can I just use the 5 pin cable? Is it safe to use a 5 pin male into a 7pin female?

I'm really not very experienced with MIDI here, so your patience/guidance would be greatly appreciated! I have been using the MFC with my XL and FASLink, hence my noob questions on the MIDI side.

I also wasn't sure if this post should go into the MFC forum, or the Axe3 forum, hope I got it right.
 
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The two outer pins 6 and 7 on the MFC allow powering via a 7 pin midi-cable, the outer pins then get the 9V from the wallwart to the MFC.
Nothing wrong when you use a 5 pin instead and leave the outer pins empty.
 
The two outer pins 6 and 7 on the MFC allow powering via a 7 pin midi-cable, the outer pins then get the 9V from the wallwart to the MFC.
Nothing wrong when you use a 5 pin instead and leave the outer pins empty.

Cool, so that sounds like I'm not doing any damage if I use a 5pin cable into the 7pin socket, and power the MFC by using the external power supply that came with it?

EDIT: Yep you answered my question, sorry I shouldn't have repeated it! I was multi-tasking and not doing very well. :D
 
Cool, so that sounds like I'm not doing any damage if I use a 5pin cable into the 7pin socket, and power the MFC by using the external power supply that came with it?

EDIT: Yep you answered my question, sorry I shouldn't have repeated it! I was multi-tasking and not doing very well. :D
That works fine. No worries...
 
The two outer pins 6 and 7 on the MFC allow powering via a 7 pin midi-cable, the outer pins then get the 9V from the wallwart to the MFC.
Nothing wrong when you use a 5 pin instead and leave the outer pins empty.

I wonder if it is possible to remove 2 pins from one end of an existing 7 pin cable to use with the axefxIII.
 
I'm not keen on experimenting with that with an expensive bit of kit like the Axe3. I'm using a 5pin to 5pin cable and it is working well now. Only one direction but that's pretty much what I'm expecting until I get my hands on the new controllers.
 
In case you can open the plug and see a way to pull the pins out their holes after cutting the outer cables off, that should work. Pro stuff is often sturdy, so the problem could be to get the pins out.

When you know how to solder it's better to replace the 7 pin by a 5 pin on one side and solder a 9v power input to the two outer cables to have midi and power in one cable again.
 
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