MC6Pro & Nixie Connection Issue

I’ve been searching through the threads concerning issues getting Nixie to recognize Strymon pedals when using the MC6Pro as a midi interface with a Mac computer.

Midi Pedals

  1. Walrus M1 (Ch1)
  2. Timeline (Ch2)
  3. Big Sky (Ch3)
  4. ACS1 (Ch4)
  5. MC6Pro (Ch5)

Here is the list of things I see as required based on my search.

  1. Strymon pedals set to Midi Merge
  2. Strymon pedals having individual Midi channels
  3. Midi Out through Midi Ins and Outs on pedals, but then routed back to MC6 to the Midi In
  4. Cross Midi Through (not available in the new firmware?)
  5. MC6Pro having a separate midi Chanel?

Having said these things and asked others I’ll mention that my intention is to buy a ML5x soon. I’ve read that if you have an ML5 in the chain then Nixie will not work. If this is the case, then what would be the point of using a Morningstar product? Half of the world seems to have a BigSky or a Timeline.

Also, if for some reason I have to change any of my midi channels for my setup will it ruin any of the presets and banks I already have in place?

I have also bypassed all the other midi pedals

MC6Pro (Ch5) out to BigSky (Ch3) out the MC6Pro In

Nixie still does not detect the BigSky.

Well, as it turns out……Nixie didn’t want me to have my Scarlett 18i8 powered up. I’m making progress.

The BigSky showed up when it was the only peal connected via the Morningstar. When I reconnected the others only the Big Sky was identified (missing the TimeLine).

For some random reason it just started working properly.

Nixie can be really finicky about different interfaces and setups sometimes. I feel like I have seen so many forum posts about it so it may be a bit of pain from time to time. The need for two midi cables can be tough as well. If you happen to have Ableton Live Suite, I made Max for Live devices that can serve as alternative.

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You can run the ML5 on an Omniport just fine; just not on the DIN5 with the Strymon.

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Hi @james,

I’m trying to connect my Timeline and Mobius to Nixie through the MC6 Pro (latest beta firmware), however, Nixie can’t find the pedals. Settings seem correct and no other pedals are situated in between. Also using a regular USB cable.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks!

Be sure you double check other things seemingly unrelated. Do you have an audio interface turned on? If so, that may be the problem. Of course many people want to use their equipment with an audio interface. The issue with an audio interface is that it also has a midi channel which can complicate things. Frequently it would be helpful to have a list of all things that are connected and on because it is usually the unknown that is the issue.

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That could be possible. I have several stuff connected as well. I’ll try to narrow the setup down to just the MC6 Pro and the 2 Strymons and check if that helps. Will let you know.

Thanks!

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Was it working before? I don’t think anything changed related to this but I can set up Nixie to test on Tuesday.

@james Now that you mentioned it I was unable to connect last night and had all my other things off that were causing issues for me initially.

I’ll dive into this a bit more.

With the Roland UM-ONE cable directly into the Strymon’s Nixie works fine.

ok sounds like maybe there’s a bug. i’ll check it out tomorrow

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I discovered the ML-5 was impeding MIDI as it was upstream to the Strymons. I moved the ML-5 to the end of the MIDI chain and that fixed it. So, you may have a pedal which cannot handle the Strymon traffic load.

Just tested Nixie with Timeline via the MC6 PRO, didn’t have any issues.
Did you reset your controller MIDI channel settings (Controller settings >> Edit MIDI Channel settings)?

There’s a new feature which lets you determine which port to send to for each channel. For your Strymon devices, USB Device should be selected.

Hi James,

This seems to work, thanks! However, it looks like Nixie is quite unstable. Any idea why? Or is this a Strymon issue?

Thanks!

@james
So, apparently the issue I was facing is no matter how many times I would turn off my power supply I could not have my devices discovered by nixie. I have to pull the usb-c from the back of the MC6Pro and reconnect it every time it doesn’t connect to Nixie and then it will discover the Strymon Pedals.

All of my board is currently powered by an isolated power supply except for the MC6Pro. The MC6Pro is being powered by my Mac Mini. So when I power cycle the pedals it is not power cycling the MC6Pro.

I am currently in the state of trying to set up banks with presets so I dial them up via Nixie and then set up the preset triggers via Morningstar GUI. Once I am done I will power it with a power supply, yet if I have it connected to power and USB as well it still drops connection with Nixie if I use the Tap Tempo on the MC6Pro.

The issue isn’t related to the power supply or needing to power cycle the pedals. The MC6 PRO is simply receiving SysEx messages via MIDI IN and transmitting it out via USB to Nixie, and receiving Sysex messages via USB device and transmitting it out via the DIN5 MIDI Out port.

I just tested using Nixie with MIDI clock running and didn’t encounter an issues. I did have just the MC6 PRO connected directly to the Timeline and back. Do you have any other MIDI devices connected inbetween? Can you try using just 1 Strymon pedal to troublehsoot?

Also, be sure to check that your USB Virtual MIDI PORT setting in the Controller settings is set to 1. If it is set to 2 or more, Nixie sends MIDI to all USB MIDI ports and multiple copies of the intended messages will be transmitted.

I have:

Midi Channel and Physical Order

  1. Walrus Audio M1
  2. Timeline
  3. Big Sky
  4. Walrus Audio ACS1
  5. Morningstar MC6pro


@james

I’ll see if I can do a Strymom only a bit later.

I can’t get Nixie to detect the Strymon devices that are connected to the MC6 Pro. Whenever I look at Nixie’s MIDI Adapter list, I see four different ports for the MC6 Pro both in and out (screenshot attached). No matter which one I choose, Nixie doesn’t detect the Mobius or Timeline.

Here are my channels:
1: MC6 Pro
2: Strymon Iridium (Omniport 1)
3: Strymon Timeline (DIN5)
4: Strymon Mobius (DIN5)

Here are my connections:

Computer —USB—>Morningstar MC6 Pro

MC6 Pro MIDI OUT —>Strymon Mobius MIDI IN
Strymon Mobius MIDI OUT—>Strymon Timeline MIDI IN
Strymon Timeline MIDI OUT —>MC6 Pro MIDI IN