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Connecting Roland XV-2020 to iPad - dummy question


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You mean the 30 pin connector?

 

Apple made a Camera Connection Kit that turned the 30 pin into a female USB port and there are USB MIDI interfaces that will work with it but you need to make sure they support the version of iOS that your older iPad can run. And the editor software you want to use for the XV has to support that version of iOS too.

 

Griffin did a MIDI interface that is straight 30pin connector to a MIDI io box. But same thing. The interface and the software you want to use has to run on the version of iOS you are limited to.

 

Alesis had an io Dock (there"s a few others) that you drop the iPad into and it gives you the MIDI io as well as XLR/1/4' combo jacks and a 1/4' headphone input.

 

Make sure PatchBase editor will run on your iPad and I"m sure there are guys here who have hardware they bought for their older 30 pin iPads that they"d sell off cheap.

 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Hi there, Moe. Help is on the way!

 

[Pro tip: I will use the word "iPad" here, but my advice almost universally applies to the iPhone and iPod touch as well.]

 

Everyone who's doing music on iOS (and I'll be spearheading efforts in MPN to help folks who are) very quickly comes to the realization that those devices are

 

(a) stupid levels of powerful for this stuff, rivaling many laptop computers in the later generations, and

(b) woefully hard to hook up to things.

 

Aside from the headphone minijack -- which, contrary to the grumblings of a lot of trolls, specs remarkably well in bench tests as a D/A for music output -- there's only one port to do everything on the platform. That's a major hassle, because that port has to:

 

(a) provide audio I/O if you're not using the headphone jack,

(b) provide MIDI I/O, and

© keep the iPad powered up so it doesn't die on you in use.

 

Doing all of this at once is easy on the newest USB-C iPads, tricky but doable on the Lightning-port iPads, and nearly impossible on the 30-pin iPads. Music was too new to the platform at the time that the port change happened, so there wasn't a lot of purpose-built hardware made for that application. If you know what to look for, you can hunt around for one of the very specific devices made for the process, or combine elements for a more generic approach.

 

The generic approach is to find the one piece of hardware that you might not have at the moment: an original (30-pin) iPad Camera Connection Kit. They will take some searching to find used, but persistence should pay off. You might even find one at an Apple dealership or authorized repair place, although I am not sure if the Apple Store still stocks them.

 

The original CCK came in two pieces: a dock/dongle that ended in an SD card slot for loading camera images onto the iPad, and -- far more useful -- a dock/dongle that ended in a conventional USB-A port, which allows the iPad to act as a generic CoreAudio/CoreMIDI device with pretty much any class compliant USB audio or MIDI interface that doesn't require special drivers. You could get something like, say, an M-Audio Uno or an iConnectivity mio or Yamaha UX16, plug it in, and you'd be in business.

 

This has the advantage of relying entirely on the OS MIDI compatibility, which is quite solid. The only downside to this is that you'd have to rely on the charge in your iPad, as there's no way to charge it AND use the CCK at the same time. (Apple added this capability with the third-generation Lightning-to-USB adapter, which adds a Lightning passthru for power from your wall wart.)

 

Alternatively, you could look for one of the few iOS-specific MIDI interfaces out there. I am surprised and pleased to report that one such gizmo, the Griffin Technology StudioConnect, is still available from their online store. It adds MIDI and audio and charges your iPad AND it's 30-pin compatible. Here's a link:

 

The StudioConnect from Griffin

 

The only other serious alternative is the original iRig MIDI from IK Multimedia, which didn't use generic drivers and might not work at all with your patch app.

 

So there you have it: a very specific option for under thirty bucks, or a generalized option that gives you more flexibility to connect all kinds of USB interfaces, one of which you might have lying around handy.

 

I hope this helps!

 

 

 

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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You mean the 30 pin connector?

 

Apple made a Camera Connection Kit that turned the 30 pin into a female USB port and there are USB MIDI interfaces that will work with it but you need to make sure they support the version of iOS that your older iPad can run. And the editor software you want to use for the XV has to support that version of iOS too.

 

Griffin did a MIDI interface that is straight 30pin connector to a MIDI io box. But same thing. The interface and the software you want to use has to run on the version of iOS you are limited to.

 

Alesis had an io Dock (there"s a few others) that you drop the iPad into and it gives you the MIDI io as well as XLR/1/4' combo jacks and a 1/4' headphone input.

 

Make sure PatchBase editor will run on your iPad and I"m sure there are guys here who have hardware they bought for their older 30 pin iPads that they"d sell off cheap.

 

He got this out while I was typing my tome. I have to type faster! :)

 

I don't recommend the IODock; they developed all sorts of hardware issues as they got older, and very few of them are still in good working order... and those that are, are usually jealously held onto by their owners as a way of keeping older iPads useful.

 

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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I have an IODock laying around. I refuse to use it because it uses these plastic shim layers to deal with various iPad case sizes, and mine fits so tightly that I have to cram it to get it to dock. I always feel like the screen is going to shatter.

 

Just so I'm clear - on the Roland end, am I using the USB port on the front or the midi DIN plugs on the back?

Moe

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I have an IODock laying around. I refuse to use it because it uses these plastic shim layers to deal with various iPad case sizes, and mine fits so tightly that I have to cram it to get it to dock. I always feel like the screen is going to shatter.

 

Just so I'm clear - on the Roland end, am I using the USB port on the front or the midi DIN plugs on the back?

 

The MIDI plugs on the back. I have no idea what the USB port on the front is for, but if you're doing patch editing, that's almost certainly DIN MIDI.

 

And yes, the screen very well may shatter if you use those shims. A terrible addition to a terrible design; the IODock is really useless for any iPad after the original one.

 

 

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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You mean the 30 pin connector?

 

Apple made a Camera Connection Kit that turned the 30 pin into a female USB port and there are USB MIDI interfaces that will work with it but you need to make sure they support the version of iOS that your older iPad can run. And the editor software you want to use for the XV has to support that version of iOS too.

If the app runs, the hardware will work. Camera connection kits and the regular USB-MIDI (5 pin) interfaces that plug into them are not OS-specific. True that some very old OS versions didn't support CoreMIDI, but in those cases, the app wouldn't work either.

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I used the Griffin MIDI Connect to connect a JV-1080 to Patch Base.

Griffin MIDI Connect

 

Worked great. It was launched in 2011, so it has a 30-pin interface. I bought it new from Sweetwater in 2017, but it is no longer in-stock. Since my iPad had the lightning adapter, I used the Apple 30-pin to lightning adapter. Nothing else needed but the MIDI cables.

 

You'll find one at a better price on ebay than Amazon. I only paid $15 for mine when new.

Nord Stage 3 HA88, Nord Stage 3 Compact, Casio CT-S1, Radial Key Largo, Westone AM Pro 30, Rolls PM55P, K&M 18880 + 18881, Bose S1 Pro, JBL 305p MKII, Zoom Q2n-4K

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I used the Griffin MIDI Connect to connect a JV-1080 to Patch Base.

Griffin MIDI Connect

 

Worked great. It was launched in 2011, so it has a 30-pin interface. I bought it new from Sweetwater in 2017, but it is no longer in-stock. Since my iPad had the lightning adapter, I used the Apple 30-pin to lightning adapter. Nothing else needed but the MIDI cables.

 

You'll find one at a better price on ebay than Amazon. I only paid $15 for mine when new.

 

Just ordered a used Griffin from Amazon since I don't do ebay. Hopefully it will do the trick. Thanks to all for the advice!

Moe

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Before you get to the technicalities: are you sure that you can find a XV2020 editor compatible with your iPad? My editor works only with my old Macbook (model 2008). It was impossible to find an editor that could run on a newer apple version

I would suggest to first try to find the appropriate editor and then find a solution to the connection

Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands
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Just ordered a used Griffin from Amazon since I don't do ebay. Hopefully it will do the trick. Thanks to all for the advice!

Glad I could help!

 

Before you get to the technicalities: are you sure that you can find a XV2020 editor compatible with your iPad? My editor works only with my old Macbook (model 2008). It was impossible to find an editor that could run on a newer apple version

I would suggest to first try to find the appropriate editor and then find a solution to the connection

Moe and I both have Patch Base which has editors for many vintage synths:

 

Patch Base - see list of currently supported synths.

Nord Stage 3 HA88, Nord Stage 3 Compact, Casio CT-S1, Radial Key Largo, Westone AM Pro 30, Rolls PM55P, K&M 18880 + 18881, Bose S1 Pro, JBL 305p MKII, Zoom Q2n-4K

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Before you get to the technicalities: are you sure that you can find a XV2020 editor compatible with your iPad? My editor works only with my old Macbook (model 2008). It was impossible to find an editor that could run on a newer apple version

I would suggest to first try to find the appropriate editor and then find a solution to the connection

 

Good point. I already have PatchBase (the free part) installed on my iPad. It refused to install on an older one, so I'm confident it can run on the current one. Once I get the midi port working, I'll spring for the $20 to download the specific editor for the XP-2020.

 

I noticed that this particular editor was released barely 6 months ago, so it's good I procrastinated when I bought the Roland over a year ago.

Moe

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I got my Griffin interface and am going to try everything out in the next couple days. Do I need to hook up a complete loop, iPad midi out to XV midi in, and XV midi out to iPad midi in?

 

If so, do I also need a merge box to hook in a keyboard for playing the patch as I'm working on it?

Moe

---

 

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So I got my Griffin interface and am going to try everything out in the next couple days. Do I need to hook up a complete loop, iPad midi out to XV midi in, and XV midi out to iPad midi in?

 

If so, do I also need a merge box to hook in a keyboard for playing the patch as I'm working on it?

It"s been a year and a half since I used mine, but as I recall, I used my MIDI patch bay to merge my iPad and one of my keyboards to play the sounds on my JV1080 as I tweaked them. Yes, I used a loop, the MIDI in to the iPad ingests the patch and the MIDI out sends the changes to the module.

 

Nord Stage 3 HA88, Nord Stage 3 Compact, Casio CT-S1, Radial Key Largo, Westone AM Pro 30, Rolls PM55P, K&M 18880 + 18881, Bose S1 Pro, JBL 305p MKII, Zoom Q2n-4K

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So I got my Griffin interface and am going to try everything out in the next couple days. Do I need to hook up a complete loop, iPad midi out to XV midi in, and XV midi out to iPad midi in?

 

If so, do I also need a merge box to hook in a keyboard for playing the patch as I'm working on it?

It"s been a year and a half since I used mine, but as I recall, I used my MIDI patch bay to merge my iPad and one of my keyboards to play the sounds on my JV1080 as I tweaked them. Yes, I used a loop, the MIDI in to the iPad ingests the patch and the MIDI out sends the changes to the module.

 

Thanks, that's kinda what I expected. Don't know if I have a merger, I'll have to dig in the junk box.

Moe

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