MIDI USB to DIN Converter

The MIDI USB to DIN Converter allows you to connect a USB midi device to standard MIDI equipment that uses 5-pin DIN connectors. Many MIDI devices now connect via USB, but if you don't have the facility to accept USB devices in your equipment, then this adapter will convert the USB device to standard MIDI DIN connectors. So you can connect a USB peripheral (such as a keyboard or synthesizer) to older equipment that only has a 5-pin DIN connector (such as an amplifier).

It translates the USB MIDI data packets to/from MIDI Din at the MIDI baud rate of 31250.

Use your USB MIDI device without having to connect it to a computer.

Features



Converts USB MIDI device to MIDI Din

Operates at 31250 BAUD

Optional Configuration Settings

Filter out MIDI Realtime messages Filter MIDI Channel data

Dimensions: 6.5cm x 6.5cm x 2.68cm (H)

Supported Devices



Standard MIDI compliant devices are supported.

We have a list of known supported devices

Un-Supported Devices

Some Complex MIDI devices use a built-in USB Hub. These MIDI devices are not supported and will NOT work with our MIDI USB - DIN Converter. You can determine if your device has a built-in hub by running the free Windows program USB Tree Viewer. If, when you plug in your MIDI device it appears as a new Hub plus one or more devices then it will not work with our MIDI - USB Din Converter.

Connections



Power to the device is supplied via the mini-USB connector and supplied cable. A suitable 5V USB power source is needed which could be a computer or seperate mains adapter. Because mains adapters vary throughout the world we don't supply one, however a suitable mains adapter for use in the UK can be found here UK Mains Adapter

If you want to make your own MIDI Din cables we have suitable MIDI DIN plugs and suitable 4-core cable

Configuration

The following configuration options are available for the MIDI software

[NEW] - As of software V1.18 command mode is now inactive by default. The reason is that if you have the converter connected to MIDI IN and MIDI OUT but no USB MIDI device attached, then serial MIDI IN data received would be echoed back out on MIDI OUT.



So, in order to get into command mode you must do the following..

1. Boot up the converter without a USB MIDI device attached

2. Send two consecutive dollar characters "$$" in the first 10 bytes of serial data. If $$ is not received within the first 10 bytes, a reboot is needed to try command mode again.

Configuration is not necessary for normal operation, however the following Configuration commands are available. Connect the MIDI Converter to a computer using the supplied mini-USB cable and run a terminal program set to 31250 BAUD. The Help screen and configuration settings can only be made when there is no MIDI device attached.

FILTER <value> Filter incoming MIDI Channel data

[0-OFF|1-16 Channel to be filtered] REALTIME <value> Turn ON/OFF MIDI REALTIME messages

[0-OFF|1-ON] - Default is ON DEBUG Temporarily turns on debug output MODE <value> Set mode of operation

0 - Standard Mode, 1 - Midi Thru mode - Default is 0 HELP or ? Display Help Screen



FILTER



The FILTER option allows you to block ALL incoming MIDI channel data received on the MIDI DIN IN connector EXCEPT for the MIDI channel selected.

This is useful for MIDI Effects devices which run in OMNI mode only (which means the effect would be applied to ALL channel data)

REALTIME



This option allows you to turn MIDI Realtime messages On or OFF. The default is Realtime messages ON

DEBUG



Temporarily turns on debug output. This is useful if you have a USB MIDI device that is not working. The debug output can be sent to us at Hobbytronics to determine the problem.

MODE



If you only need to send midi data to the attached MIDI USB device, you can can use the MIDI OUT port as a THRU port (see diagram below).

Documents

MIDI message format

Sparkfun MIDI Tutorial

Arduino Board as basic MIDI synthesizer - Create a basic MIDI Synth using an Arduino Board

MIDI Player Tutorial using Teensy 3.1

USB Host Serial MIDI Connections - Connecting the Serial port to serial MIDI devices

MIDI Synth Project - See our project to make a MIDI Synthesizer

Program Updates

New software versions can be downloaded from the USB Host MIDI product page

To load the new software we use the free ds30loader application.

You can download a copy from our website here.

Run the ds30loader application and...