midi thru boxes don't work with sbLive

meganox · Feb 23, 2004, 04:26 PM

hey there. i can't get my sblive value to work with any midi thru boxes. i tried it with a 1->4 phillip rees unit which is line powered down the midi cable and it didn't work, so i thought the card must not provide line power, but then i tried it with an externally powered thru box (actually a macman 1in-3out macintosh midi interface in thru mode with 9v external power supply) and it still didn't work. i don't really want to spend any cash on an externally powered box until i know some more, can anyone help me with this?

thanks in advance

TravelRec. · Feb 25, 2004, 07:47 AM

Hi!

Think it´s not possible to use line-powered Thru-Boxes on sbLive or any other creative´s card (except if you use the 5V-Pin on the GamePort, but not more than ~ 200mA!). I use a selfmade Thru-Box at the GamePort of an Audigy-Card over an optical MIDI-Interface with internal LineDriver. If you use the cards MIDI-signal directly it could be too weak (I don´t know if the card could drive the 20mA current loop (MIDI Spec.) directly). So maybe it´s a solution to drive the MIDI out signal before connecting with a external powered Thru-Box. Does the MIDI work directly connected with an external synth? If yes, then the current level maybe is really to weak for the Thru-Box. I found out that (for example) the MIDI-Port-Level of an Extigy-Card is much higher than that one of the Audigy.

Greetings and good luck for testing!

TravelRec.

Feb 23, 2004, 04:26 PM	#1
meganox DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	midi thru boxes don't work with sbLive hey there. i can't get my sblive value to work with any midi thru boxes. i tried it with a 1->4 phillip rees unit which is line powered down the midi cable and it didn't work, so i thought the card must not provide line power, but then i tried it with an externally powered thru box (actually a macman 1in-3out macintosh midi interface in thru mode with 9v external power supply) and it still didn't work. i don't really want to spend any cash on an externally powered box until i know some more, can anyone help me with this? thanks in advance

Feb 25, 2004, 07:47 AM	#2
TravelRec. Alternative Audioproductions Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Germany / Sachsen-Anhalt Posts: 1,710 Rep Power: 0	Hi! Think it´s not possible to use line-powered Thru-Boxes on sbLive or any other creative´s card (except if you use the 5V-Pin on the GamePort, but not more than ~ 200mA!). I use a selfmade Thru-Box at the GamePort of an Audigy-Card over an optical MIDI-Interface with internal LineDriver. If you use the cards MIDI-signal directly it could be too weak (I don´t know if the card could drive the 20mA current loop (MIDI Spec.) directly). So maybe it´s a solution to drive the MIDI out signal before connecting with a external powered Thru-Box. Does the MIDI work directly connected with an external synth? If yes, then the current level maybe is really to weak for the Thru-Box. I found out that (for example) the MIDI-Port-Level of an Extigy-Card is much higher than that one of the Audigy. Greetings and good luck for testing! TravelRec. __________________ Always take a look behind.