Which MIDI patchbay? A MOTU one?

[dazzjazz]

I find running my own home studio a bit of a challenge and I'm sure many others do too. Maybe someone on here has solved this riddle.

I would like to have things setup in such a way that I don't need to repatch MIDI cables when a new workflow situation arises. Ideally I should be able to connect any device to any other device if possible, and choose which device is clock master/slave. I'd like to be able to both send MIDI to my DAW but also run things without having to boot my DAW.

Ironically I'm not a big fan of MIDI - I swear at times I can feel the lag in timing.

I imagine I need some kind of MIDI patch bay with recall function? I have the following:

Moog Matriarch
ARP Odyssey module (crap MIDI implementation!)
Elektron Model:Samples
Yamaha CP Reface
Yamaha CP4
Roland JX-8P with KIWI Mod
Native Instruments S61 mk2 (probably should be connected via USB to take advantage of its features)

I already have the MIDI ports on the back of my Focusrite 8Pre, and a MOTU Fastlane 2x2 MIDI interface. This is not enough in’s/outs.

The research I’ve done so far has me considering the iConnectivity MIoXL but m not familiar with them and trust MOTU products more. There is a Kenton product coming that looks promising but I don’t want to wait.

Thanks in advance,

Darren

[bayswater]

When I had a lot of MIDI modules, I originally had a MIDIMan interface which was a PITA, and replaced it with a MOTU unit. That was a big improvement, and was one of those things that sits in the rack and does what it should, and you forget all about it.

From what I see in the the threads here, I’d probably want some assurance that the MOTU units work properly with more recent versions of macOS.

[James Steele]

From what I see in the the threads here, I’d probably want some assurance that the MOTU units work properly with more recent versions of macOS.

I purchased a MOTU MIDI Express XT a couple of months ago or so. All is well here with my M1 Max Mac Studio on MacOS 12.6.2.

[mikehalloran]

If you run across an old MOTU USB box including the MTP AV USB, you need the Firmware chip to read 2.0.1 (it will also flash on startup) and the USB controller chip to read 1.32. Two screws remove the top and you can see both chips. Although these run over USB 1.1, a few of us have tested these with the current drivers and they work.

Here are the current MOTU MIDI boxes. The 2011 and later MIDI Express XT and micro express support more SMTPE frame rates than older units.

https://motu.com/en-us/products/MIDI-products/

[dazzjazz]

Thanks for the input everyone. I will keep researching.

[James Steele]

Although these run over USB 1.1, a few of us have tested these with the current drivers and they work.

Mine would work, but I would caution that I recall having some problem with mine retaining any changes made to its settings via ClockWorks. For example, I could set it to mute all sysex on a certain cable, quit ClockWorks, then relaunch ClockWorks and check it and the mutes didn't "stick."

I still have it and have decided to keep it in case I decide to start a second "nostalgia" rack of hardware modules.

[Killahurts]

This might do what you want:

https://www.thomannmusic.com/esi_m8u_ex.htm

Fully routable.. the 16 MIDI connections can each be an input or an output!

I have one, and it works as advertised.