OWNER’S MANUAL
Email us at support@iConnectivity.com tel +1 (403) 457-1122 url www.iConnectivity.com Warranty iConnectivity warrants to the original purchaser that this unit is free of defects in materials and workmanship under normal use and maintenance for a period of one (1) year from the date of original purchase.
PRECAUTIONS / IMPORTANT NOTES Interference with other electrical devices FCC (USA) / IC (Canada) Regulation Warning Radios and televisions placed nearby may experience reception interference. Operate this unit at a suitable distance from radios and televisions. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Warranty ........................................................................2 Compatibility ..................................................................2 Precautions/important notes .................................... 3 What’s in the box ...................................................... 6 The iConnectMIDI4+ hardware ................................... 7 Mac OS X set-up ..................................................... 12 Windows set-up ................................
Thank you for purchasing the iConnectMIDI4+ Hybrid multi-host MIDI interface with Audio passThru™ technology. Your iConnectMIDI4+is the most flexible MIDI interface available, integrating today’s professional multiple-computer set-ups with iOS devices and traditional MIDI hardware.
What’s in the box • The iConnectMIDI4+ • One 30-pin or Lightning iConnectivity USB (B) inline connection cable to connect the interface to an iOS device that uses this connector. • One USB-A to USB-B cable to connect the interface to a Mac or PC computer. • A power transformer. Please use only the iConnectivity 12V/3A (36W) center positive supply, or you risk damaging the device. This adapter operates over a range of 100-240V/50 or 60Hz, so it can be used internationally with wall plug adapters.
The iConnectMIDI4+ hardware 7
1 Power button This switch has several functions. • Putting the iConnectMIDI4+ to sleep and waking it up. Put the device to sleep by holding the button in for a couple of seconds until the green LED (2) goes out, then releasing it. Wake it up by touching it briefly. • Hard-resetting the device. Hold the button in for about seven seconds until all the LEDs light up, then release it. • Putting the device into boot loader mode, ready to receive firmware updates.
4 USB Host jack LED This light indicates that USB MIDI data is being sent to or received from a USB MIDI class-compliant device plugged into the USB Host jack. It also lights along with all the other LEDs when the device starts up, and when a hard reset is about to begin. 5 USB Device jacks LED This light indicates that MIDI data is being sent to or received from computer devices plugged into one or more of the three USB Device jacks.
9, 10, 11 USB Device jacks PLEASE NOTE THE DIFFERENCE IN CHARGING CAPABILITIES BETWEEN THE THREE USB DEVICE JACKS! These USB 1.0 jacks accept a USB B-standard plug for audio and MIDI connection to a Mac or Windows computer, or the iConnectivity Lightning or 30-pin to USB (B) connector for both audio and MIDI connection to an iOS device. MIDI is transmitted at full USB speed. Jack 1 provides 2.1 amps; it will charge any iOS device. Jack 2 provides 1.
- This jack supplies the USB standard amount of current - up to 500mA - to USB MIDI devices. You will need a powered USB hub to power multiple devices (unless they have external power supplies). 13 Network jack This Ethernet jack is for Network MIDI. With the help of Apple Network MIDI or the free rtpMIDI driver for Windows, it supports four sessions, each with one bank of 16 channels. Each session supports a single computer device. The network jack may be connected to a Wi-Fi router for wireless MIDI.
Mac OS X set-up 1. Plug the iConnectMIDI4+ into an available USB jack. If you’re using the iConnectMIDI4+ alone on the Mac, that’s it. It will show up as an available audio and a MIDI interface in your sequencer. You can confirm this beforehand by opening the Audio MIDI Setup application found inside your Applications -> Utilities folder; the set-up in this program is shared by all audio and MIDI software running on the Mac.
Windows set-up 1. Connect a USB A-to-B standard cable from Device port 1 or 2 to your Windows computer. The iConnectMIDI4+ will appear in your MIDI software as an available MIDI interface with four 16-channel ports.
2. For audio set-up, go to www.ASIO4all.com to download and install the free ASIO4all driver. The iConnectMID4+ will show up as an available audio interface in your audio software, and you select it as the one to use. If you are using the iConnectMIDI4+ alongside other audio interfaces installed on the Windows computer, as shown above, they are automatically “aggregated” into what appears to the software as a single interface with combined number of outputs in each one.
iOS set-up For both audio passThru™ and MIDI, simply connect your iOS computer device to one of the three iConnectMIDI4+ Device jacks the 30-pin or Lightning to iConnectivity USB (B) inline connection cable. Please note the differences in charging capability between the three USB Device jacks described in the “iConnectMIDI4+ front and back” section.
Working with multiple iConnectivity interfaces When using more than one audio and or/MIDI interface on a computer, normally you’d simply connect each one to a standard USB jack on a Windows or Mac computer. Sequencers and other software running on the computer will then see them all. This applies to iConnectivity hybrid interfaces and to any other MIDI or audio interfaces, regardless of how many you’re using.
Port Routing: understanding iConnectMIDI4+ MIDI Bear in mind that jacks are physical connections and ports are 16channel MIDI ports; one jack can carry several ports. For example, each USB Device jack has 16 MIDI ports.
- the USB Device jack with the same number (DIN1 goes to USB Device jack 1, DIN 2 to USB Device jack 2…) • All three USB device jacks are routed the same: - Ports 1-4 go to the same-numbered DIN jacks 1-4 (Port 1 to DIN 1, Port 2 to DIN 2…) - Ports 5-6 go to the other two USB device jacks; - Ports 7-12 go to the first six ports on the USB host jack (there are eight ports on the USB so the last two ports are not connected in the default set-up); - Ports 13-16 go to the four ports on the ethernet jack • Each
Additional information: - Up to 19 devices may be connected to the iConnectMIDI4+ (four on the DIN jacks, three computer devices on the USB Device jacks, eight USB MIDI devices on the USB Host jack [if you use a powered USB hub], and an additional four computers networked over Ethernet). However, USB MIDI allows 16 ports on each jack. That means each USB Device jack can connect to 16 other devices.
Audio passThru™ Audio passThru™ is the technology behind the built-in bi-directional digital audio connection between the three computer devices hooked up to the iConnectMIDI4+’s USB Device jacks (only – the other jacks don’t carry audio). It appears to a Mac, Windows, or iOS computer device just like any other audio interface, but there are two important and unique distinctions.
iConnectivity iConfig Software The iConnectivity iConfig software provides access to some sophisticated MIDI features in the iConnectivity interface(s) connected to your system, as well as the audio settings. It allows you to save and open complete routing and processing Snapshot files that make working with sophisticated systems very simple. You can name inputs, route MIDI selectively, and process MIDI in various ways.
Launching the software/Device Info The first thing iConfig does when you launch it is scan your system for a few seconds to see what’s connected. You can see the green iConnectMIDI4+ indicator lights flashing while this is going on. In this example we have two units connected to a Mac – an iConnectMIDI4+ and an iConnectMIDI2+: (Should any of your iConnectivity devices fail to appear, the most likely culprit has to be an unplugged or bad cable. Check your connections and click Refresh.
MIDI Info tab This screen contains essential MIDI information, as well as a list view with information about each of the 64 potential 16-channel MIDI ports available in your interface. Please refer to the previous section “Port routing: understanding iConnectMIDI4+ MIDI” for an explanation. You can give ports custom names (in the editable Port Name fields), and also each port’s MIDI input and output can be enabled/disabled individually.
About the “Running Status on DIN ports” checkbox (under MIDI Information): this defaults to being disabled/not transmitted (white), since it must be implemented – and implemented correctly - in the receiving device to function. As a practical matter, Running Status is a “leave it off unless you know otherwise” parameter. Running Status is part of the MIDI spec, implemented to reduce the amount of MIDI data that must be sent.
Port Routing tab Please refer to the previous section “Port routing: understanding iConnectMIDI4+ MIDI.” The Port Routing screen is a simple routing matrix, but it accesses one of the iConnectMIDI4+’s most sophisticated features: the ability to “patch” 16-channel MIDI streams wherever you want them to go, only where you want them to go. Ports are shown in the left column and potential routing routes in the right one.
There are countless applications in which the routing feature might be useful. Perhaps you need one MIDI keyboard controller routed to a layered sound that’s on two different computer devices, or maybe you have a percussion pad that you want “hardwired” to a percussion module. Or perhaps you don’t need the computer device connected to iConnectMIDI4+ USB jack 1 to see the MIDI keyboard connected to DIN jack 1. Port Filters tab This matrix is for filtering various types of MIDI data on input and/or output.
The first six types of data can be filtered only on the selected MIDI channels; due to their nature, the remaining data types are filtered/enabled for the entire Port on all channels. MIDI Active Sensing, an arguably obsolete command designed to let you know when a device has gone offline (usually because it’s unplugged), is filtered by default. Channel Remap tab The Channel Remap matrix allows you to change various types of incoming or outgoing MIDI data from one channel to another.
Then go over to the Remap Channels table and select the data type and channel to be remapped, and enter the destination channel number in the Remap to Channel row. Controller Filters tab The Controller Filters matrix lets you enable/disable up to eight different MIDI Controller messages on each MIDI channel, on input or output.
Then each row lets you select one of the 127 MIDI Controllers from the Controller ID drop-downs.
Controller Remap tab This matrix allows you to remap, or convert, up to eight MIDI Controllers from one type to another on selected MIDI channels. If you want to use, say, the mod wheel to control volume, this is where you’d convert MIDI CC#1 (Modulation) to #7 (Main Volume).
Audio Info tab The final screen is a list view with information about the internal audio ports, along with a few adjustable parameters. You must set the sample rate and bit depth here, rather than in computer device software (e.g. Mac Audio MIDI Setup). Audio Information The iConnectMIDI4+ can route a number of channels of audio to and from each computer device connected to its USB jacks.
Audio Configuration: this drop-down in the Audio Information window offers a choice of seven different combinations of sample rate, number of audio channels, and bit rate. (Audio channels are divided evenly between input and output.) The higher each of these numbers is, the more data is transferred and therefore more bandwidth is used. Under some but not all conditions the audio quality may improve slightly at 24 bits rather than 16, and extremely subtly at 96kHz vs. 44.
iConfig iOS version The iOS version of the iConfig software has a different look from the computer versions, because its user interface is designed for touchscreen devices. So instead of clicking on tabs, you tap areas on the screen. The functions are the same, however, and the interface is completely intuitive.
Network MIDI set-up The iConnectMIDI4+’s Network MIDI feature is like having an additional 1 x 1 MIDI interface on each of up to four computers on your network. You can connect a single computer directly to the Network port with a standard Cat5 ethernet cable, or you can cable the iConnectMIDI4+ to a wired switcher or (wireless) Wi-Fi router for access to the other three computers. (The ethernet switcher must have its own power supply.
- Click on the + icon under My Sessions to create a new session (Session 1 is the default name; you can rename it in the righthand column). - Click on the checkbox next to Session 1 to enable it. (You may give it your own name in the righthand column.) - Click on (in this example) ETH1, then on the Connect button to connect ETH1 to the session.
Windows set-up (using rtpMIDI) The free rtpMIDI driver for Windows looks just the same as above. Please download and install it, then follow the same instructions. Networking MIDI from an iOS device to a Windows computer Networking an iOS device to rtpMIDI over Wi-Fi requires iConnectivity’s free NetMIDI utility app from the iTunes App Store.
Troubleshooting Music/audio system stops working properly At the risk of stating the obvious, the first thing to do with any digital device is to restart it. No indicator lights Data flowing through iConnectMIDI4+ normally causes the port indicator lights to flash. If that doesn’t happen, the two most common causes are: - a detached or broken cable (swapping cables is at the top of any audio or MIDI troubleshooting list); - an application that isn’t responding.
You can disable Audio passThru™ in the iConfig software’s Audio Information screen, leaving iConnectMIDI4+ active. If you need live input to the iOS device, the best workaround is to connect the mic to the computer on the other end of the USB cable and route it to the iOS device by way of, for example, a record-enabled track in your DAW software. Similarly, you should be able to connect your headphones to the computer and listen through it instead of the iOS device.
Specifications General 3 USB Device jacks – Jack 1 provides 2.1A charging power, Jack 2 provides 1A, Jack 3 provides no charging power. 1 USB 2.0 Host jack for MIDI Class-Compliant devices. 4 pairs of MIDI DIN jacks. Ethernet Network port. Body Durable construction out of Rugged steel, brushed metal finish. Dimensions Width 215 mm Depth 138 mm Height 38mm (without feet) 40mm (with feet) Weight 1.005kG (35.5 oz.
Appendix: MIDI and audio basics First came analog synthesizers, then came the digital revolution, at which time synthesizers were starting to come under digital control. To allow them to communicate with one another, in 1983 several musical instrument manufacturers agreed upon a standard: the Multiple Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI). MIDI is a control language that says things like “play a C3 at xxx velocity, now turn on the sustain pedal, now turn it off, now stop playing that C3, etc.
computer(s). It can also come from sounds that have been recorded or are being played live through a regular audio interface on one of the computers. What’s unique about the iConnectMIDI4+ is that instead of having MIDI interfaces and audio interfaces on three computer devices – six devices - you just have one box that routes both MIDI and audio between the machines over USB. That makes it both convenient and cost-effective to add, say, an iPad to your music-making set-up.
So you connect an iConnectMIDI4+ MIDI DIN out to your first instrument’s In, your first instrument’s Thru to your second instrument’s In, your second instrument’s Thru to your third instrument’s In, and (not shown in the illustration above) your third instrument’s Out to the iConnectMIDI4+ MIDI DIN in. And so on. You will almost certainly want to divide the 16 MIDI channels on each port between the instruments so that they don’t all play at once. Daisy-chaining lots of instruments is not ideal.
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