Small Board for MC6 Pro

Morningstar Gear MC6 Pro MIDI Controller
1

I’m having a lot of fun with my mc6 Pro, and am considering building it onto a small pedal board, perhaps with an expression pedal and a couple of aux switches.

I’m tossing up between a couple of different options for connection, and I’m not sure which is the best way to go about it. Keen to hear other’s thoughts or solutions.

Option 1: USB-C port. This seems the simplest, and has been how I have been using the device at home. But I have some concerns, as the USB-C does have a tendency to get knocked out occasionally, especially since it sticks out, and I’m guessing this will get worse if I run longer lengths. I’m hoping the bigger mass of the board will at least stop it moving around as much, which might help?

Has anyone got a better way to hook this up and ensure a solid connection? I saw reinforcing lug on another board here (Protecting the MC6 USB-B Port) , has anyone used these with any success?

Alternatively, is a right angle cable, tied down to the board to prevent movement, a better option?

Option 2: Midi port connection. The Midi ports are a bit more robust. I’d be plugging it into an interface. The downside is that I’d need to have a separate power cable, which is fine on my main board, but I think it might be better to have the morningstar separated onto a midi board for when I don’t want to lug the whole thing around, and stick to a fully digital signal chain.

Option 3: Wireless midi. This looks promising, with the benefit of only requiring one cable (power) to the board, and allowing a bit more flexibility around placement, without being tied too closely to the PC. I think this might be my preference, but I have concerns about how stable the wireless connection might be in a crowded wifi space.

Anyway, bit of a long post for something so simple. But

2

This is how I do it, with CME Widi devices. I’ve written a handful of posts about my rig, so I won’t bore you with the details, but the basic gist is:
Widi Uhost on the board, as master, widi Bud connected to the laptop, and another Uhost connected to an iPad.
At home I use all three. The laptop is for editing MC6 and Future Impact presets.
Live it’s usually just the iPad and board. The iPad is for running tracks, soft synths, and for deeper control of a few midi pedals.

I’ve not had any issues, even in crowded (radio frequency-wise) venues, with multiple band mates running all manner of wireless devices.

I also power the Uhost from a usb port on a cioks dc7, which in turn powers the MC6.

Happy to share more details if you need…

2 Likes
3

Thanks heaps!

I’ll take a look at your post history for the rig details, but this sounds good and gives me a bit more hope that I’ll have success with this method.

My main concern was with stability of connection, but your setup sounds more complex than what I’d need, and yet you’re still going ok even with the added complexity.

Was there a reason as to why you chose the u-host over the widi Jack?

4

With the first unit, I knew I wanted to use the usb port on the MC6, so I wouldn’t ‘use up’ the few midi ports on the MC6.

The Jack would have required me to put it ‘inline’, so to speak, so midi out from the MC6, to the Jack, then out to probably the Neuro hub, thru to the Future Impact, and then back to the MC6, for the bidirectional communication.

Really a ‘6 of one, half dozen…’ kinda thing, I suppose. With cross midi thru on, its functionally the same.

Here’s a post from Talkbass that shows the complete rig:

1 Like
5

@Hooper
I realize you provided some information in another thread. I appreciate that. First, not sure if CME can handle the Strymon big boxes…lots of data so interface requirement is very picky, Second, it seems like your solution may be what I need…but let me lay it out and confirm it with you.

MC8 (Soon MC6Pro) - Mobius - Timeline - Big Sky - MC8
MC8 Omni TRS to Compadre
MC8 Omni TRS to ML-5 (once cable arrives)

so…

  1. Board gets a uHost plugged directly into the MC6Pro
    • This will not work with MC8 due to lack of USB-C…MC6Pro arrived today
    • Does this plug into Device or Host port on the MC6?
    • Is the Uhost powered by the MC6?
  2. IMac and MacBook gets a Bud. Power comes from the USB Port.
  3. Ipad get a U-host (can I presume this is due to the USB-C interface on the iPad?) And is powered thru the port.

Am I wrong anywhere in this? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Stephen

1 Like
6

Hey Stephen,

Couple caveats first:

I don’t own any Strymon goods, so I can’t comment with confidence on them. I’m also using an MC6mkII; haven’t yet upgraded to the Pro (really want one, but the mkII works great, and there’s other pedals I want to add first…)

So, with that said, you can use a uHost with the MC6/8. CME (and others) offer adaptors from USB-C to USB-B. Works a treat, and will power the MC6/8. The USB-B port will not provide power to the uHost, so I go the other way: power the uHost from a USB port (on my cioks DC7), and pass that thru to the MC6
For the Pro, I’m not sure if it can run on USB power (@james?), but I think the host port does provide power, so you could run the uHost from the MC6Pro’s Host port, or go the other way like I do.

My iPad is older and has a lightning port, so I’m using the camera adaptor, which has a USB-A port. The iPad does power the uHost, and of course the adaptor has a lightning port for charging. (Battery life is not great running multiple soft synths, Bandhelper, TouchOSC, GoButton, so for live work, I’m always plugged in anyway.)

Otherwise, your setup should work great. I know the Pro has additional means of passing midi thru the various ports, so Nixie should be able to ‘see’ all the Strymon pedals. I really don’t have a lot of experience with Strymon, but there’s lot’s of folks here who do. As far as I am aware, CME’s offerings support all midi commands.

Hope that helps!

7

I should point out I am only trying to pass MIDI messages to the respective Editors. Not using for on-stage performance.

Strymon won’t commit to supporting any interface beyond the Roland UM-one and their Hub. I will continue searching if anyone is using WIDI with the Strymon big boxes. But may just have to buy the CME and test it myself. Powering the MC6Pro will come from my power supply and I found in the manual the USB-C Host port is powered.

@James. Could use your expertise here. What is the best way to connect the MC-6 Pro to WIDI? You provide a lot of ports to make it happen

  • Din-5 will run the loop of physical pedals
  • Omniports are committed to Expression and TRS MIDI devices
  • TRS 3.5 on the side available. Is there any power on these ports? WIDI Jack perhaps?
  • USB-C Host on the back available. Host port to UHost.
8

Yes, the MC6 PRO can be USB powered. The Host Port does provide power as well, but if your device draws a lot of power then its better to just use the its own power supply, and/or power the MC6PRO with an adequate 9v power supply. USB specs host port provides 500mA at 5v.

USB Host port to WIDI uHost will work. Using the USB Device port to uHost will not work as uHost can only connect to pure USB MIDI device ports.
You can connect the WIDI Jack to the 3.5mm ports at the side as well with the appropriate 2.5mm to 3.5mm cables.

9

And the 3.5mm jacks provide power that is sufficient for the WIDI Jack, in case anyone was wondering. So connection is pretty neat, just make sure you get the right cables from CME.

I would also recommend getting a CME device for your computer if you plan to use that. I have managed via normal Bluetooth, but setup was a bit of work and seems to be hit and miss at the moment, so I think I might be looking to get a uhost as well potentially in the hope that the connection is a bit more straightforward and reliable, particularly for latency.

1 Like
10

Same experience here. With a windoze laptop, sometimes it works, sometimes i have to forget all the Bluetooth devices and reboot everything, while standing on one leg, facing northeast, with one eye closed to get it to work again. The iPad generally works better, but there is quite a bit of latency.

That’s great to hear that the 3.5mm jacks will power a Widi jack. Probably good that the Pro is out of stock atm, wife’s gonna be angry :angry:

1 Like
11

I’ve gone the WIDI route and battery power too.

352035847_1005374424164969_2417883077992306585_n
352035847_1005374424164969_2417883077992306585_n960×540 45.8 KB

351331269_968314550881396_6841430820403953862_n
351331269_968314550881396_6841430820403953862_n2048×1152 173 KB

3 Likes
12

Now THAT’S wireless :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

13

That’s very cool Alex

1 Like
14

@Hooper David, perhaps you can help me with this step…nothing to do with Strymon…just CME WIDI.
Got both devices with updated firmware (USB and BT)
UHost connected to my MC6Pro…light is solid turquoise.
Bud Pro connected to my iMac…light is solid blue.
I recognize they are connected to each other.I pressed a couple buttons on the MC6 and the light began (and remain) fast blinking on both dongles. I presume they are now talking. They continue to flash…never stop.

On the iMac I open the Editor (browser and standalone) but I never see the MC6 as a connection. It only shows the Bud.

Any ideas? Thanks.

15

Hey Stephen,

The blinking means there is midi data happening; do you have midi clock running? They’ll continue to flash if clock is running…

As far as what appears in the browser, yes, only the Bud will show, and that is what you’ll connect to. You won’t see the UHost, but since the UHost is connected to the Bud, the browser will ultimately connect to the MC6.

I assume the UHost and the Bud have connected to each other, based on the turquoise led. Did you create a group comprised of those two devices?

16

I did not take an action to create a Group. The two devices found each other and connected. Perhaps this a missing step. CME Instructions are pretty weak…

17

Yes, their instructions and details on the website are sorely lacking, but I have spoken to CS a few times, and they are very helpful.

I’m not sure, with only two devices, that a group is explicitly necessary; I think by design the two will connect to each other.

I believe the last step involves granting the browser access to midi (I did have to do this in Chrome on windows; not sure of the procedure for masOS, but if you’re using Chrome I imagine it would be similar?).

Let me know if you get it up and running…

18

CM Support responded. They just released new firmware so I upgraded. However…nothing… The Editor sees the Bud and shows as Connection Open. But when I select the Bud to connect all I see is…attached. MacOS does see the Bud in the MIDI Studio.

Screen Shot 2023-06-15 at 11.15.13 AM

Yday, I moved the Bud to my Windows 11 laptop and had the same miserable response. So, seems isolated to the WIDI device. I mailed CME with these Windows test results to see if they have an idea.

19

I made my own

IMG_7318
IMG_73183024×4032 2.74 MB

1 Like
20

So I finally got myself organized.

small
small1920×1222 167 KB

Thanks for the ideas all. I am really happy with how this turned out.

I might still stump up for the battery bank eventually, but I’m going to play with this for now and see how it turns out.

1 Like