RD-700sx USB MIDI INTERFACE

[raddtunes]

Need help/answer - If the RD-700sx USB port is properly hooked up to a PC, with driver installed, in MIDI mode, do the MIDI out ports on the RD then function like a MIDI interface? These out ports (1 + 2) show up as "MIDI OUTS" in my sequencer tracks. I would think I could hook up additional MIDI keyboards/modules to these outs. Can I? Is there something I'm not doing right? Thanks!!

[burningbusch]

It's an interesting question. I have always been under the impression that the USB and MIDI I/O are separate and that you could not route MIDI back through the RD and then out the MIDI outs (which it sounds like you're trying to do). I've never tried that. The fact that it shows up as MIDI 1 and 2 is what makes it interesting. I just have assumed the USB is only for sending MIDI back and forth through the USB line. You might ask Roland about this.

 

Busch.

[Sven Golly]

Well, I thought Busch would have the answer to this (being somewhat the resident RD700SX expert ).

 

I took a look at the manual, and there are a couple of not-exactly-clear items on p.104. The first is this:

 

NOTE:

 

When switched to USB MIDI mode, the RD-700SX cannot receive signals through the MIDI IN connector.

Then, on the right side of the same page, we see this:

 

Use [iNC]/[DEC] to select USB-MIDI Thru switch.

 

This setting determines whether the MIDI signals arriving at the

MIDI IN connector are transmitted without change from the

USB port (ON), or are not transmitted (OFF).

The two seem to contradict one another; without having an RD to test this out, I would hazard a guess that the second quote is backwards: what would seem to make sense is that signals arriving at the USB port are transmitted from the MIDI OUT port. That's just a guess, though, based on many years of deciphering Roland manuals. YMMV.

 

A common sense answer, without the manual to 'consult' , would be along the lines of Busch's reasoning; that the two interfaces are wholly separate and don't exchange data between them.

[raddtunes]

Thanks! - I might have mentioned that I got this idea from my Motiff ES Rack, which in fact becomes another MIDI interface that you can use on your rig. Anybody know someone at Roland we could contact about this?

[Sven Golly]

Originally posted by raddtunes:

Anybody know someone at Roland we could contact about this?

Perhaps it's too obvious

... but how about a visit to the Roland U.S. website .

[JezD]

When hooked up to a computer via USB, the RD-700SX basically can function the same as a MIDI interface. I use Logic, and control a Korg Triton, Roland JD-800 as well as the RD-700SX from Logic, via the RD's USB. As raddtunes says, you need to select the correct output in the sequencer: ROLAND RD for the RD-700SX itself, ROLAND RD MIDI OUT 1 for whatever's connected to MIDI OUT 1 of the keyboard, and ROLAND RD MIDI OUT 2 for whatever's in MIDI OUT 2.

 

With my setup, this means I can have 16 channels of Triton, 5 channels of JD-800 (since it is only 5 part multitambral) and 16 channels of RD, all playing different sequences, and each using different sounds, at the same time.

 

For it to work correctly you must make sure that Local Control is off on the RD, and the OUT option when the INTERNAL/EXTERNAL button is lit, is set to USB for the UP1 Layer.

 

The only drawback to using the RD in this way seems to be that whatever is connected to the two MIDI OUTs can only be recorded into the sequencer by playing them from the RD, ie the sequencer only RECORDS data sent directly from the RD.

 

Hope this helps, it is all rather confusing!

 

Best, JD.

[raddtunes]

Jez Davies to the rescue! Thanks - I thought this was possible, while confusing, (we're talking Roland here!), this is a very handy feature.

[raddtunes]

To sum up: This is quite a cool feature that Roland incorporated into their keyboard, and didn't really spell out very clearly in the manual. To sum up, when adding the RD-700sx to your computer/sequencing rig, using the USB port in MIDI mode, you're picking up an extra MIDI interface on your rig = with two extra, seperate, MIDI outs.

[GuitarPlayerFL]

Originally posted by raddtunes:

To sum up: This is quite a cool feature that Roland incorporated into their keyboard, and didn't really spell out very clearly in the manual. To sum up, when adding the RD-700sx to your computer/sequencing rig, using the USB port in MIDI mode, you're picking up an extra MIDI interface on your rig = with two extra, seperate, MIDI outs.

You da man.

 

I have pasted your information into the manual.

Thanks!