Do synths midi ports go bad?

[DanS]

I think the midi ports (in/out) on my Fantom X might be on the downward spiral. I have it hooked up on channel 2 of my MOTU Micro-Lite (5in/out), and Cubase is the host. Whenever I play a note on the Fantom, the sound is a gradual layering of the patch over itself until it builds to this silly crescendo and I have to do a midi reset in Cubase to shut it up. I changed midi cables, and changed ports on the MOTU, but no diff. It is only behaving like this when hooked up to the DAW.

I also went direct from my S70XS to the Fantom, and the S70 triggered the sounds from the Fantom no problem (so mayhaps it's not the Fantom's ports?).

The S70XS & PEK are behaving like normal.

Any tips or trouble-shooting ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[MuzikTeechur]

I don't know about the communications going bad, but I know I've replaced the MIDI OUT port on my Kurz twice now because the barrel keeps coming out while hooked to the MIDI cable - leaving it hooked on by just the solder connections on the wires on the back of the jack. Hasn't failed yet, but it's just a matter of time.

 

First time Kurz sent a free replacement (they come in pre-wired pairs), I'll have to ask them for another one!

[Markyboard]

Nah - I seriously doubt there's a physical port problem. Do you have the Fantom set with local off? Aslo I'm not familiar with the MOTU Micro-Lite but I do have 2 MTP-AVs and I keep all the fancy internal routing stuff turned off as the PC/sequencer handles all this stuff. When some of the routing is enabled internally it does some strange/undesired things. Again I'm not sure that the micro-lite has this capability but might be worth a look. Other than that check your drivers being up to date. and check that your sequencer doesn't have some odd midi routing thing going on back to the Fantom.

[J. Dan]

Sounds like MIDI feedback. If both the software and the Fantom are set to retransmit incoming data to the out, then when you hit a note, it will trigger, go to the software, get sent back to the keyboard, trigger again, sent out, back in, etc., etc. with each note on message delayed by the propogation delay of each interface. Usually eventually a buffer will overflow.

[matted stump]

Sounds like MIDI feedback. If both the software and the Fantom are set to retransmit incoming data to the out, then when you hit a note, it will trigger, go to the software, get sent back to the keyboard, trigger again, sent out, back in, etc., etc. with each note on message delayed by the propogation delay of each interface. Usually eventually a buffer will overflow.

 

This.

[The Real MC]

Sounds like MIDI feedback. If both the software and the Fantom are set to retransmit incoming data to the out, then when you hit a note, it will trigger, go to the software, get sent back to the keyboard, trigger again, sent out, back in, etc., etc. with each note on message delayed by the propogation delay of each interface. Usually eventually a buffer will overflow.

 

AKA MIDI loop. Very likely cause.

[Tonysounds]

+1.

 

But, yes, midi ports do go bad: when they do, they just stop sending data, or send intermittent data (I've had my Roland A90 in a few times over the years as the solder joints to the midi jacks go 'cold').

 

But what you are describing is indeed midi feedback.

[DanS]

Thanks guys, now that you mentioned it, it sounds exactly like midi feedback. Bizarre though, because the 3 boards are all hooked up identically, and the Fantom's been in the arsenal for 3 years with no probs. Even with a blank song or existing, it's exhibiting the same quirk.

I shall delve deeper.

[Sven Golly]

Look at p.218 of the manual; you have the Fantom set to "USB MIDI-THRU" mode set to ON

 

This switch specifies whether MIDI messages received at the

USB connector or the MIDI IN connector will be retransmitted

from the USB connector or the MIDI OUT connector (ON) or

not (OFF).

 

[DanS]

Sven, what the hool are you doing at my house?!

 

Grazie.

[Sven Golly]

Sven, what the hool are you doing at my house?!

 

Just grabbing some breakfast before I move on.

 

Grazie.

 

Di niente.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

...I play a note on the Fantom, the sound is a gradual layering of the patch over itself until it builds to this silly crescendo and I have to do a midi reset in Cubase to shut it up. .

 

I haven't ad any of the other replies, and they all likely know a lot more about MIDI than I, but this seems like a MIDI feedback loop, where the data leaves the keyboard, loops through the DAW and back out to the keyboard again and again and again, stacking the sound on top of itself continually until you stop it..... the delay between repeats is the system latency.

[DanS]

Thanks Bill, that's pretty much the consensus.

This blip came out of nowhere though, and I hadn't experienced it since my early midi days, and panicked, slightly.

[Rocket Man 2]

When one encounters a problem that its solution appears so frustrating, that it's like "looking for a needle in a hay-stack" to the one encountering the problem, it is SO NICE to be able to turn to a forum such as this. It is the above correspondence, for example, that makes this forum so valuable to keyboardists. (After all, how many people do you know in your town that has the knowledge-base to even have a clue what the solution to your dilemma might be?)

 

I believe this is also what gives validity to the sponsors of this forum, and to those businesses that advertise within the sponsor's magazines. Thanks to those who maintain this forum! It seems to me that everyone wins because of its existence.

 

[DanS]

(After all, how many people do you know in your town that has the knowledge-base to even have a clue what the solution to your dilemma might be?)

 

That would be me.

 

In the end, the problem turned out to be a setting for "Remote Keyboard Switch" in the midi menu that happened to be on, but shouldn't have. If you use an external keyboard to trigger the Fantom live, you would use the setting, otherwise nyet.

I think I engaged it a few months ago when I was messing around with the Yammie's Master mode trying to get the Fantom and the SX playing nice.