MC8Pro with a Bluetooth dongle on Mac

Morningstar Gear MC Pro Series MIDI Controller
1

I’m trying to program my MC8 Pro over bluetooth using a third party dongle on my M4 MacBook.

My MC8 Pro will connect using the Mac’s built-in bluetooth module, and it works fine as long as the computer is close to the controller. But my laptop is usually in another room, connected to my studio equipment with a thunderbolt dock, and the BT connection is unreliable at this distance. I don’t want to use a wired connection for programming, if I can avoid it.

When using a BT dongle, the MC8 doesn’t show in the editor when scanning for BT devices. I’ve tried two different dongles, either connected to the dock or plugged into the Mac directly. The Mac recognizes the dongles and other BT devices (wireless ear buds) will connect using them.

The dongles are by Sonnettech and Hideez, both of which are supposed to pass data as well as audio.

I’ve tried with Brave and un-Googled Chromium, both of which are working with the Mac’s own BT.

Thanks.

2

Get a CME WIDI device to connect to your MC8 Pro instead of using the integrated BT. The integrated BT isn’t designed for distance or interference-heavy conditions.

3

Bluetooth in general isn’t designed for distance. If I leave my phone in one place and and walk the length of my living room with my headphones on, I can hear audio dropout. I definitely wouldn’t edit over Bluetooth through a room wall, though if I were, I’d probably try with CME’s adapters.

If you need to edit your MC8 Pro while your computer is in another room consider using your phone, tablet, or a laptop. that can be at least in the same room.