midiplus USB MIDI Host Controller

It is easy to use right out of the box & works exactly as it should. It really doesn’t bother me that it doesn’t me that it doesn’t send power over USB, just midi. I read other reviews about how the inputs seemed loose/flimsy, which they were. So I removed the two screws and took off the panel on the midi in/out side to see why. Because my worry was that they might be loose at the soldering joints on the circuit board. However, that is not the case. The circuit board just slides in and is held in place by the front and back panels. The circuit board moves around slightly inside the outer housing when you plug/unplug stuff. So I just secured the circuit board with some hot glue to the main outer housing and then put the panel back on with the two screws. It feels really solid now. The whole thing took less than five minutes. The longest part was waiting for the hot glue gun to heat up. I just love it. Now I can use my Casio XW-PD1 as a controller/sequencer, or I can control the internal sounds with a different piece of gear like my Yamaha Qy-70 or RM1X or any of my other midi keyboards/sequencers. I’m a hardware guy and the majority of my workflow is DAW-less. I primarily make industrial metal stuff. I try to avoid the computer as much as possible in that I prefer to use real instruments vs plugins, and daisy chain as much as possible (synths,drum machines, samplers etc.). The Casio XW-PD1 didn’t really have a place in my setup due to it only having midi over USB. Which was unfortunate because this thing is strange and weird. And strange and weird really inspire me for some reason. The midiplus really opens up a lot of possibilities for me to incorporate different gear, that I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. The build isn’t super solid but for the price, and the easy fix, I’m super happy with it!! Fix recap: 1.) Remove either panel by taking out the two screws with an allen wrench. 2.) Apply hot glue on the sides and under the circuit board to secure it in place. 3.) Screw the panel back on. “OR” 4.) Spend two to three times as much on a fancier USB/midi host. I hope this helps someone out there!

I was a little skeptical about negative reviews. I have a NEKTAR 76 controller that does not have external power. It powers from the USB when plugged into a computer. I wanted to be able to use the controller with my I Pad 2 (30 pin) I have a Behringer I studio dock but is standard MIDI Din in/out. Originally bought a camera kit for the I Pad. It didn't work on a 2 because you need OS over 10 and the highest available was 9.3. Sent it back and started research on host adapters. The review made about this device does not provide power is false. This unit has a 5v PS. it provided power to my controller and I plugged Midi into I studio and I works great. This unit is half the cost of others and some of the research I did I found that some are proprietary. I am glad I ignored the mixed reviews.

I needed to connect a USB Type B port to MIDI. There seem to be two options on the market, and this one is by far the most economical. It does do the job, but when I first began using it, it would shut itself off occasionally and needed to be unplugged and reconnected. As I used it, this seemed to become less of a problem and may have been partially due to the nature of the output from my Yamaha P-105.

It works with many of my MIDI-controllable synths with a USB MIDI keyboard. But I also wanted it to send clock data into my Arturia BeatStep (which only accepts MIDI IN via USB) but that didn't work. I am pretty sure that this device does not transfer clock data at all. I also was hoping that the device would pass through any MIDI data received via MIDI IN to the MIDI OUT port (as many USB MIDI keyboards probably have no use for MIDI IN anyways) but this is not the case. This would have been great for chaining a USB MIDI keyboard into a series of chained MIDI devices but as it stands, the hosted USB MIDI keyboard would need to be at the very beginning of your chain. Haven't had any issues with USB devices not working but I don't have much USB MIDI gear from the last 5-10 years.

I have a Yamaha p115 with USB output. It connects okay and the status light turns green. I have it controlling my Korg M50. Works great for about 2 minutes then stops. Pretty much junk!

I bought this midiplus box to make it possible to use a Fishman TriplePlay midi device (for guitars) to access synth sounds on a Yamaha MOX8 keyboard. It works! I know someone raised a question about this. The TriplePlay lightning cable connects to the midiplus USB port and the 5-pin midi (DIN) output of the midiplus cable connects to the midi (DIN) input of the keyboard. It tracks well without any noticeable latency. BTW the midiplus comes with a 5vdc power supply.

This product is perfect for musicians that still use the older midi protocol with new keyboards offering only USB out. This device does a great job converting USB midi to the older midi to push the older tone generators and sound modules. I spent many hours and wasted money to find this solution. I hope this helps some more of us older musicians who still like working with midi from old to new protocol...Mark Chase...

Update: Originally I just plugged my Launchkey Mini in and it worked. When I retried a week later, it turns out that the Launchkey only works for about 30 seconds or so before something happens to where it quits happening for some reason. I suspect that its rated to the power output of the USB port, though my USB Doctor reports the same wattage whether the Launchkey is plugged into my workstation or the midiPlus. However I have zero issue using a Yamaha YPG-625 to control a Moog Mother 32 Original: I bought this after reading that this device does NOT work with devices which require power because I have a powered keyboard that I bought it for. I just figured I would try my Novation to see if it would work and it turns out that this device will power and work with the Novation mini keyboard controlling a Moog Mother 32.

Up front I will say, this is NOT a USB Midi interface for your computer. The whole point of this box is that it stands in place of a computer. Here is my use case. I have a rack mount synth that I want to control with one of my midi keyboards. But I don‘t want to plug in a computer. So, I plug this box into power via the supplied AC adapter, then plug my midi controller into the front of this box with a standard USB cable. Then use a cable from the Midi out of the USB host to the Midi in of the synth. Works like a charm. Usb midi controller playing my rack synth without a computer in sight. Also, I powered the Midi host wih a USB powerbank from Anker and it worked that way too.

Usé un Casiotone LK-S250 para usar los sonidos de un Roland JV-2080. Sin problemas. Sí lo recomiendo.

Great unit fit for purpose

I got this so that I could control my Yamaha QY100 with iRig Pads drum pads. I haven't tested it thoroughly, but so far it works well. It powers up the drum pads, and in the manual it states that is is for low-power devices only. Look up "MIDIPLUS USB MIDI HOST manual" in your favourite search engine for specs.

En mi caso toco un pedalier (con los pies) como controlador para el sonido de bajo, y tiene midi out de 5 pins, y el sonido lo robo de mi piano qué ejecuto simultáneamente, sólo que tiene midi usb, y éste dispositivo resuelve el problema de convertir entrada o salida midi a usb... El único contra que le veo es que los conectores midi de 5 pin son delicados y hay que tratarlos con mucho cuidado para que no se dañen. Conclusión resuelve lo del keneton pero a mucho menor precio.