MIDI connection woes....

[benitodevalencio]

I'm not upgrading to AxeFx II (using Ultra). So I'm stuck using the MIDI when using AxeEdit.

Currently I have MIDI Merger from MIDI Solutions, so I merge the outputs of the Ground Control Pro with the PC. Everything works great. I can switch patches, I can edit patches, life is good.

However, I'm going to upgrade to Liquid Foot JR+, which supports two-way communication with AxeFx using pins 1 & 3. I've emailed MIDI Solutions for clarification, waiting for reply, but I'm sure they didn't anticipate pins 1 & 3 being used going the other direction. So if I put the MIDI Merger in between Liquid Foot JR+ and AxeFX, in order to merge with the PC, then the two-way communication may be broken.

So my question is, say somehow I make this work. Now AxeFx has two ports for MIDI out. One is bi-directional pins 1 & 3 to the Liquid Foot, the other is the traditional MIDI out to the PC. Is AxeFx smart enough not to get confused? I.e. outputs meant for Liquid Foot will go out on pins 1 & 3, and outputs meant for AxeEdit will go out on MIDI out. Or maybe, both sets of output data are replicated to both ports, and it's up to Liquid Foot and AxeEdit to ignore the ones not meant for them?

And, how do you make this work? I supposed I could crack open MIDI Merger, and if pins 1 & 3 are unconnected, I can wire them straight through to one of the two inputs that I plan on connecting to Liquid Foot.

Has anyone tried this? Or do you only connect to the PC or your controller but not both?

Thanks.

 

[shotgunn]

I believe you may need to use a 7 pin MIDI cable to do what you desire. If I understood you correctly. I too used a MIDI merger to allow me to connect my GCP to my Ultra and AE. I also used the merger to supply phantom power after I modded it.

 

[Bakerman]

7-pin would only be needed for phantom power. For bi-directional data you'd have to do what you mentioned in one way or another--get a complete path for pins 1 & 3 between LF & Axe. That could either be with a connection inside the merger, or some adapter outside of it. The same data will always go to both MIDI outs but that shouldn't cause any problems.

Another option is using a 2 in, 2 out MIDI interface and 4 5-pin cables, making Axe-Edit or a separate program do the merging. With that setup it's possible to have Axe-Edit reflect preset changes from the footcontroller.