Midi Patchbays

[NomadSpectrum]

So I have been buying some equipment recently - while I still have a job, and gradually my studio/living room is turning in to a cable nightmare

One of my solutions was to buy a midi patchbay - but when I saw that they are over 330 quid I was shocked so my question is - why so expensive

[rollah]

have you a link to what youve been lookin at?

[sam]

Yeah have you got a link? Are you looking at a simple patch bay or something with some logic built in that can split and merge?

I have a 3x3 interface which I know isn't a patch bay, but coupled with a laptop and midipipe or something similar can do some funky stuff. It's a bit of a bastard tho when you want to use all hardware because I still have to have a laptop to route midi which is overkill I find. And actually the only reason I've wanted to use it like that is to be able to have a midi controller sending CC to a device which is being sequenced by another device which only has one midi in.

The only patch / splitter / merge boxes I saw for sale when I was looking were second hand, relatively old and unsupported, and quite expensive.

[NomadSpectrum]

This may be a little over the top for my needs - but just thinking about future proofing

http://www.musik-produktiv.co.uk/motu-m ... ss-xt.html

[sam]

wow paul, that one looks like a serious bit of kit and would take care of any midi situation you ever cabled yourself in to.

[chrisso]

An 8 in, 8 out midi interface is pretty standard actually.
On the flip side, I'm trying not to use midi whenever possible, as I've found serious timing errors.
Obviously virtual instruments are ok, but for hardware I try to use Expert Sleepers Eurorack modules and Innerclock IILS.
http://www.expert-sleepers.co.uk/index_ ... pdates.php
http://innerclocksystems.com/blog/?p=567

[Mslwte]

Those innerclock systems are great pieces of kit. Been after one for a while but they are quite expensive. The designer has some interesting articles on old gear and timing issues.
Timing issues are easily over come in ableton with the delay function.

Something else that I have been looking at Paul is a "motu 128" 8 in 8 out. I think they are around £180 new so is probably the most likely solution for me.

[chrisso]

The timing issues with midi are variable. Hence you can't just drag your whole performance forward, or use one track delay setting. I spent months toiling with audio in Logic after recording my midi modules. I'm fairly new to Ableton, but the only way you could fix the errors in midi recordings would be to warp the recorded audio.
That's a waste of time for me when my hardware can be perfectly in time using the Expert Sleepers modules.

[Ant]

Something like this would be a cheap option to tidy up your cables: £78.48 inc VAT



http://www.studiospares.com/patchbays/p ... 2FVQ%3D%3D


Obviously when I say cheap, I actually mean incredibly overpriced.

[NomadSpectrum]

I think I could make one of those