I know that I need to re-connect my MC8 Pro to my Mac every time one of them re-boots (because of how Apple chooses to handle Bluetooth MIDI connections, they don’t re-pair automatically). But I’m also observing that the MC8 Pro doesn’t consistently show as available in the list of devices in the macOS MIDI Bluetooth menu — sometimes it’s there, but greyed out as unavailable to connect to. I have to power cycle the MC8 Pro to make it show up as available in the list. Does anyone else notice the same thing?
On a slightly different topic, the connection between the Web Editor and the MC8 Pro seems to time out pretty quickly (after maybe ~ 15min.). It kicks me back out to the main screen where I have to re-select the MC8 Pro to connect to. Is there a way to change the time-out duration so the Editor remains connected longer?
When this happens, can you try opening the Audio MIDI setup in macOS, and then navigate to the Bluetooth device menu and see if the MC8 PRO is still listed there?
Or, use a different device like your phone (I’m assuming it is an iPhone) and then use the midimittr app to check if the MC8 PRO bluetooth is still active.
Is this connection on Bluetooth or USB? If Bluetooth, it feels like it might be a connection issue where if the device gets disconnected, then the Editor will exit. Is the MC8 PRO very far away from your computer when this happens?
Can you also check if you are providing enough power to the MC8 PRO? What’s the current output for the power source you are using?
The connection to the Editor is on Bluetooth (I did not have the same time out / disconnect issue when I tried connecting it to the Editor via USB). The MC8 PRO is about 4-5 feet from the computer. I’m powering it from a dedicated 500mA port on a Strymon Zuma. The screen is at 70% brightness and I have 2 pedals connected to the USB Host port via a USB hub, as well as a WIDI Jack drawing power from the MIDI out 5-pin DIN connector.
I’ve been using Macs and BT with music tech gear for almost 2 decades and am not sure if I’ve ever seen BT signals time out. Device advertising will time out but if a device has BT, the BT signal normally doesn’t just stop transmitting unless it’s designed - or is user-configured - to do so.
@jtfreed, have you power-cycled your Mac just to see if it’s Mac-related? It likely isn’t but you should check this anyway.
You could also try pairing the MC8P with another BT MIDI device to see if it consistently disconnects from that, too e.g. your WIDI Jack.
Also, if you use a WIDI Jack or WIDI uHost connected to your Mac, you can configure an auto-group (with the WIDI device and MC8P) so the WIDI device will auto-connect to your MC8P when the latter powers up.
Thanks. It appears that the dropped connection issue is on the Mac side because it only happens when the computer is inactive — I think the display is turning off quicker than it’s supposed to, which causes the computer to sleep and disconnect Bluetooth. I have to figure out why it’s not obeying the settings in System Settings. Will try resetting NVRAM and SMC and see if that fixes it.
Yes, you can pair the MC8P BT with WIDI products. You’re best to create an auto group if you want to go down that road so you get the auto-(re)connect capability, and also so that you don’t need to faff about with wrong devices connecting.
Re. range: that’s a good question….I’ve never had the need to test this but at a very rough guess, I’d say 10m/33ft based on the current BT specs? But you’d want to minimise the distance wherever possible anyway. I’d be interested to hear the results if you test this out. I’ll try to test it myself, too, over the next few days because I’m curious.
I didn’t know you could pair a MacBook with the MC8 Pro via bluetooth. Is there a guide somewhere. If not, can you help a brother out?
I’ve successfully used my iPhone with Midimittr to connect and edit via Bluetooth, but I would love to connect wirelessly from my laptop. The MC8 Pro does not appear in the Bluetooth in the Bluetooth configuration window of Midi Audio Setup nor in the system settings.
Are you looking to just use the Mac editor with the MC8 Pro via BT? Or do you want to use the MC8 Pro to control software on the Mac using BT?
If you just want to connect to your Mac to use the editor, you select the Bluetooth MIDI port in the editor when selecting your connection port.
If you want to connect the MC8 Pro to your Mac via BT in order for the MC8P to control software on your Mac (e.g. in a DAW etc), then the MC8P BT should be available to connect in the Bluetooth Configuration pane in MIDI Studio. If it’s not visible, is it possible that the MC8P BT is already connected to something else? It can only connect to one device at a time.
I just want to use it with the editor. It would be nice connecting without digging out a USB cable every time. I can’t get it to work in Brave, even with all the protection disabled.
I keep a copy of Chrome with no protection just for sites that refuse to serve Brave but I need to access. I’m able to connect to the MC8 Pro via Bluetooth using the online editor with Chrome. That’s strange because Brave is chromium-based. With all shields and extensions disabled it still doesn’t connect.
I’ll download the offline editor and see if I have any success with it.
I figured out the connection time out issue (was due to my Mac going to sleep), but I still have this problem where the MC8 Pro shows as offline in the Mac MIDI BT list the first time I power up my pedalboard, and I need to power cycle the MC8 Pro to make it appear as available to connect. It’s possible the MC8 Pro is connecting to something else at first; I’ll keep trying to troubleshoot this.
To that end, I’d like to submit a new feature request: it would be great if the Editor could display the Bluetooth status, connected device name, etc. to see what it’s currently connected to for troubleshooting.
@jtfreed You’ve probably already tried this, but delaying the startup on the MC8 Pro’s bluetooth might help. It’s found under Controller Settings > General Configuration.
@DdC441 Thanks for the suggestion. I noticed something interesting when I tried this. I set the BT startup delay to 40s, but when I restarted the MC8P, it showed up in the Mac’s list of available MIDI Bluetooth Devices almost immediately — there definitely wasn’t a 40s delay. Seems like it could be a bug in the BT startup settings?
I just tested this - seems to work fine. I’m not sure how long is each refresh on the Mac but I find that sometimes bluetooth devices still stay there even though they are not active. I tested using the Bluetooth function in the editor
No, none of my devices, iPhone, iPad or MacBook see it as available.
I do have a Yamaha Wireless Midi Adapter on a piano but it does this even with that unplugged.
Can you try installing the free midimttr app on your iOS devices, and see if this will detect the MC8 Pro Bluetooth in its “Devices” pane? It shouldn’t make any difference but it doesn’t hurt to try something else.
