Steinberg Midex 8 Manual
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MIDEX-8 English – 21 ENGLISH 2. In the File menu, select “New Studio Setup” to let OMS search for all con- nected MIDI interfaces. The following dialog appears. 3. Confirm by clicking “OK” in this dialog. In the following dialog click “Search”. The program will now automatically search for usable MIDI drivers and the cor- responding devices connected to your computer. One of these – maybe the only one currently – is the MIDEX-8 interface. If the search result resembles the one depicted below and if the MIDEX-8 has been recognized, you can confirm the successful search by clicking “OK”.
MIDEX-8 English – 22 4. If your MIDEX-8 has not been recognized, do again check whether the MIDEX-8 is properly connected to the computer and that it is operational. • When you click “OK”, OMS will initialize all available inputs and outputs of your MIDEX-8. The corresponding MIDEX-8 output ports should light up in succession and OMS should display a message that resembles the one dis- played below. The installed MIDEX-8 ports are listed below the MIDEX-8 symbol. Use the scrollbar in case the list is too long to be viewed in full.
MIDEX-8 English – 23 ENGLISH 5. Activate the individual MIDI ports. There is a check box to the left of each listed port. If you click on it, a cross will appear in it to indicate that the corresponding MIDEX-8 port is activated. We recommend that you activate all MIDEX-8 ports, even if you do not wish to use all at first. 6. Confirm your settings by clicking “OK”. OMS will ask you to save the results of your search as well as your settings as a file named “My Studio Setup”. You can of course also use another name. If you intend to work with different settings, you should of course save the different setups under different names (e.g. My MIDEX-8 Setup, My MIDEX-3 /MIDEX-8 Setup).
MIDEX-8 English – 24 Tips for using OMS If you´re not yet familiar with OMS, we recommend that you read its manuals. These can be found in the “OMS Tech Pubs” folder located in the “OMS Applications” folder on your hard disk. The manuals are avail- able in Adobe Acrobat format and can be read and printed out using the Adobe Acrobat Reader utility. You can download Acrobat Reader free of charge from the Adobe web site (http://www.adobe.com). •Upon each (new) selection of “New Studio Setup” in the OMS File menu, OMS creates internal MIDI ports for the IAC bus as well as for the Quicktime Musical instru- ments. If you do not intend to use these, you should de- lete them from your OMS setup. They will otherwise unnecessarily consume pro- cessor power. •OMS also offers possibilities to exactly define your MIDI instruments or other MIDI de- vices and include them into the OMS setup. Using Cubase or Nuendo becomes espe- cially comfortable this way. •You can name all MIDI de- vices that you assign like this or – if available – select them from a library. This will later facilitate your work as you can stop memorizing the MIDI port or even channel numbers of the de- vices that are connected. Instead, you can select the devices by name (e.g. JV 1080-3). •Please note the small arrows that are visible in the OMS setup next to the listed ports. These indicate the available transfer directions for MIDI data to and from the MIDEX-8.
MIDEX-8 English – 25 ENGLISH •To prevent unnecessarily wasting processing power, it is a good idea to only use those MIDI devices as inputs (arrow pointing to the left – towards the MIDEX-8 port) that you really intend to use for MIDI input (e.g. the MIDI key- board that is used to play notes into the sequencer). By simply clicking on an arrow, you can activate or deactivate the correspond- ing MIDI transfer direction. •If you intend to use the physi- cal Thru function on some de- vices to connect several devices to the same MIDEX-8 MIDI port, the corresponding MIDI channels must be as- signed to each device in the “MIDI Device Info” dialog’s “Receive Channels” section. This is done by clicking on the corresponding channel. The “MIDI Device Info” dialog can be opened by double clicking the keyboard symbol with the question mark in the OMS Setup window. •By cleverly limiting the MIDI input channels of your MIDI in- struments, you can connect many more than just 8 sound devices to the MIDEX-8. •It would e.g. be possible to connect an old DX7 exclusively to – say – MIDI channel 9 while MIDI channels 1 to 8 of the same MIDi output port are used for a multi- timbral instrument like the ROLAND JV2080. To do this, you would have to deac- tivate the option “Is multitimbral” in the “MIDI Device Info” dialog and select the corresponding channels (do not forget to activate the receiving channel in each synthesizer!). •You can improve overall appearance by double clicking the Keyboard icon next to the corresponding entry in the “OMS Setup” window and by clicking the same symbol once in the “MIDI Device Info” dialog that appears. A dialog opens where you can select an icon which represents the actually connected device. Your Studio Setup will become very clear this way.
MIDEX-8 English – 26 •You can also directly change your Studio setup from Cubase VST. Open the Stu- dio setup window by selecting Option–MIDI Setup–OMS–OMS Studio Setup and make the necessary changes. You can immediately activate the changes by selecting “Save and make current”. Using OMS and Cubase VST or Nuendo ❐ If you have previously used OMS and Cubase or if you already are a Nuendo user, you can skip this section. 1. If OMS was not installed before, start Cubase VST and set “OMS compatibil- ity” in Cubase VST’s “MIDI Setup/System” dialog from “No OMS” to “IN & OUT”. Wait until the program has finished loading and quit it when you have changed the setting, as the MIDEX-8 can only recognize the change when you start the program next time. This is not necessarry if you work with Nuendo, as here OMS is always active if it has been installed. 2. If you now (re)start Cubase VST or Nuendo, the MIDEX-8 interface is avail- able as a MIDI input and output device. From now on, you can select your MIDEX-8 outputs directly in the output column of your program. ❐ If you use another sequencer program, you will probably have to configu- rate its OMS support. Please read the documentation provided by the manufacturer. 3. You should now check whether the program receives MIDI data from the connected Recording Keyboard or MIDI Controller. To do this, simply press a few keys on the MIDI keyboard or move a few controls. While you do this, the corresponding Input LED on your MIDEX-8 should light up. The same goes for the MIDI Input indicator in your program on the screen.
MIDEX-8 English – 27 ENGLISH • If it doesn’t, please re-check all MIDI cable connections. Furthermore, look up the “MIDI System Setup” dialog in Cubase VST or the ”Device Setup” di- alog in Nuendo to make sure that the corresponding devices are selected and activated for the MIDI inputs of your system. More information about setting up the MIDI inputs and outputs of your program can be found in the corresponding sections of the program documentation.
MIDEX-8 English – 28 Setting up your MIDI Program When you have installed the MIDEX-8 interface driver, you must config- ure your MIDI application program so that it actually uses the MIDEX-8 interface. What you actually must do to select the MIDEX-8 within the program depends on what program you use. We will therefore only describe the basics here. Please find more details in the manual of your MIDI appli- cation program. •Most MIDI application programs on the PC and on the Macintosh offer possibil- ities to set up the MIDI ports, often via a dialog called “MIDI Devices” or “MIDI Setup”. •This where you select your MIDI input and output devices or activate them. •The output port that you select for a MIDI track in your sequencer sends the MIDI data to the keyboard or sound module that is connected to this port. If the MIDEX-8 interface driver has been installed correctly, you can e.g. select the MIDEX-8 inputs In 1 to In 8 in the Cubase “Inputs” column and select the outputs Out 1 to 8 in the “Outputs” column. In Nuendo’s Track List, you can select an input in the “Input” pop-up and an output in the pop-up above it. •These inputs and outputs correspond to the physical inputs and outputs 1 to 8 of the MIDEX-8 interface. • Make sure that these items are activated (ticked or highlighted) in the cor- responding dialog of your MIDI application program. Some programs do limit the number of simultaneously usable input and output ports.
MIDEX-8 English – 29 ENGLISH The Linear Time Base Method To achieve the best possible Timing, the MIDEX-8 uses the Linear Time Base method. This new approach to optimize time-critical MIDI data transfer is the result of a close co-operation between Steinberg and Access Music. The Problem The new multitasking operating systems are often not capable of really accurately transferring MIDI data, even on very fast computers. The problem is caused by the sequential method that these systems use to share the system resources between all running applications. The in- tention of the method is to allow for a virtually simultaneous process- ing of different tasks. But when time-critical processes are involved, this method often results in slight timing problems. This might not be of great importance for many applications, but a timing difference of 5 milliseconds during a MIDI data transfer is clearly noticeable. The Solution The solution is called LTB – Linear Time Base. This method adds an ad- ditional time information to each MIDI Event and sends the event to the MIDEX-8 early. •For this reason, the MIDEX-8 “knows” in advance which MIDI information/note to transfer next. •Monitoring the current time position, the MIDEX-8 assigns the individual MIDI Events to the current position of your Song and sends the MIDI Event at the musically correct time.
MIDEX-8 English – 30 The Buttons Cablecheck/Panic Which of the two functions assigned to this button is performed de- pends on how long you press the button. If this button is pressed for less than 2 to 3 seconds, a MIDI cable test is executed. Please proceed as follows: 1. Use the cable to be tested to connect MIDI output 8 and MIDI input 8 on the front panel of your MIDEX-8. 2. Press the “Panic/Cablecheck” button for less than 2 seconds. 3. If your MIDI cable is okay, all eight input LEDs will light up for a few sec- onds. If the cable is defective, all eight output LEDs will light up for a brief moment. If this button is pressed for more than 2 to 3 seconds, all connected MIDI devices are reset. This is e.g. helpful if hanging notes have oc- curred. Please proceed as follows: • Press the “Panic/Cablecheck” button for more than 2 to 3 seconds. The MIDEX-8 now sends out a series of “All Notes Off” and “Controller Reset” messages via all MIDI outputs. This lets the output LEDs light up momentarily. ❐ The “Panic” and “Cablecheck” functions are only supported if the MIDEX-8 is connected to a computer via a USB cable and if the operating system and the drivers have already been booted. MIDI Thru Mode The MIDEX-8 has a built-in MIDI Thru mode. It lets you access the sound modules connected to the MIDEX-8 from a Master keyboard, even when no software program is active. This mode can also be used if the MIDEX-8 is not connected to the com- puter via the USB cable. However, you need an additional standard power supply (not included) to supply the MIDEX-8 with the necessary power.