SS MIDI Expander strangeness

[edmann]

Greetings Experts,

I have a SS w/MIDI Expander here in Win7 with LIVE - exhibiting the following behavior:

Any controller plugged in to the MIDI Expander generates random "stuck" notes, often at the bottom end of the key range. Also some played notes to not make it thru to trigger the softsynths in the DAW App (LIVE). When I disconnect SS and use a different MIDI/USB interface (Korg Padkontrol) - all is fine, with any of my controllers.

Had anyone encountered this before?

thanks in advance

Ed

[Otis Scarecroe]

Edmann,

Steve Lawson ,Softstep user, reported this on another forum:

"The only thing at the moment that is foxing me is not being able to get MIDI into the LP1 via the MIDI in on the KMI midi convertor box, but that's an issue for their forum, not this one."

I thought to bring it here as something of a response to your question.

In the mean time, you should probably contact KMI support to see if they respond to this issue.
If they do, please report back here on the forum.

It would be helpful if there was a bug report heading on this forum,yes?????

O

[edmann]

Hey Otis,

not sure if these issues are related but it is certainly worth thinking about. I know that the KMI support people are very busy with immediate concerns, and that they also keep up with the forum, so I have been assuming that if this problem rings a bell, they would have chimed in. I posted this just days before I became aware of version 1.2 which I have not started using yet so who knows - maybe that will help. Meanwhile, I have created some really unique things with SoftStep

film at 11

thanks again

Ed

[MattKMI]

Hi Edmann,
I've been trying to reproduce your Expander problem, but haven't had any success getting notes to hang or drop when sending MIDI in to Live through the expander. Can you give me a bit more information about the set-up you've got going on?

~Matt

[edmann]

Thanks Matt

I am Win7, i5 processor, 4GB RAM, 1GBVRAM, 7200RPM, LIVE 8.2.2, E-mu 0204 USB or Tascam 0404, several standard MIDI controllers and 3 MIDI interface options.

Soon I will unzip and install/begin to work with Softstep v 1.2 - and that may resolve things but as it stands in 1.1, for some reason stuck/lost notes happen when using the SS MIDI Expander, and I do not have the problems otherwise.

thanks again

Ed

[PRS-Ian]

I'm not sure if I'm having this problem or not.
I'm a complete newbie but want to resist the temptation to shout out “I don’t know what I’m doing, someone help me”. Anyway, I have several guitar rigs and at some point want to be able to set up the SoftStep to operate each one (not simultaneously).
The first task is the Peavey Vypr modeling amp (Iknow, the SoftStep cost more tham the amp!!). In the PRGM (program change) scene either host or standalone modes I have to press each key at least FOUR or FIVE times before the amp switches presets. Could this be down to data loss? Previously I used a Behringer FCB1010 foot controller and didn’t have this issue; also I've checked and changed the midi cables and am using the suppled USB cables.
How do I check for data loss? is there a piece of software that allows me to see what is coming out of the expander?

Ian

[edmann]

Hey Ian -

try increasing the GAIN value for the SS keys you are using - I did that and it helped - but it has nothing to do with any MIDI stuck note syndrome.

good luck

Ed

[MattKMI]

Hi,
We're investigating this issue & we will get back to you about it ASAP!

Thanks,
Matt

[SarahKMI]

Hey Ed,

We've been investigating this. What we've found is that some MIDI devices do not respond well to what is called "Running Status" messages. Here is a really good in-depth explanation of what running status means:

http://home.roadrunner.com/~jgglatt/tec ... ec/run.htm

Basically what happens is the Softstep announces a program change and sends the corresponding status byte the first time, but then for subsequent program changes it is following the running status spec and just sends the data byte. About every 11th program change it re-announces the program change status byte. This is when MIDI devices incompatible with running status messages see the program change. Nowadays most MIDI devices are compatible with running status style MIDI since it is faster and more robust. So devices that use older MIDI implementation need to see the status byte every time in order to recognize the data.

In an effort to be compatible with everything we are planning a firmware update that will send status bytes with every message. We will announce the new firmware once it is ready.

Thanks!

-Sarah Howe