DMX

infuzion · 3 Feb 2011

tor wrote: Maybe it would be an idea to have support for some DMX interfaces in SM. Probably alot of live artists that would love to have light controlled in the DAW as a VST plug. Just a thought 🙂

+1 Aside from lighting, what else is controlled by DMX these days? IMHO, I think MIDI, DMX, etc specs should all be superceeded by some protical over USB3 or CAT6.

trogluddite · 3 Feb 2011

+1 to both points. Why we are still stuck with 7bit resolution at 1980's data rates makes my mind boggle.

tor · 3 Feb 2011

infuzion wrote: IMHO, I think MIDI, DMX, etc specs should all be superceeded by some protical over USB3 or CAT6.

CAT-5.. but you need a converter in the end. I guess there is to much expensive equipment out there to get a new standard in any near future. http://www.onstagelighting.co.uk/lighti ... converter/

trogluddite wrote: +1 to both points. Why we are still stuck with 7bit resolution at 1980's data rates makes my mind boggle.

Is there really need for more? They are rock solid those old protocols 🙂

tor · 3 Feb 2011

-1 for my last statement... less cabels with more information is always wanted 🙂

trogluddite · 3 Feb 2011

And better resolution - for less zipper noise, finer control of tuning/detuning etc. - In theory, even MIDI can do 14bit resolution (coarse/fine controllers are part of the standard) - but it never seems to be implemented. There's no technical reason why the knobs/sliders on a MIDI control surface shouldn't be just as responsive as those on a real analogue synth - to me the stepped action of 7bit controlllers just doesn't feel quite right.

MichaelBenjamin · 3 Feb 2011

and while were on changing the midi standard - make it a human readable file format

infuzion · 4 Feb 2011

MichaelBenjamin wrote: and while were on changing the midi standard - make it a human readable file format

That increases the overhead; not a good idea. There has been lashback against using XML for data transfer the last year or so, since other protocols are much more efficient at shuffling databases over the internet. Data translators don't eat that much CPU, & generally computers have more CPU to spare than data bandwidth (when dealing with large data blocks)

MichaelBenjamin · 4 Feb 2011

if you speak of 28.8 modem rate, yes, but with todays cpu and connection speeds that amount of overhead should not be a problem. midi data is tiny files compared to video streams or whatever. human readable format for a digital notation system goes first.

AngularMomentum · 27 Feb 2011

trogluddite wrote: And better resolution - for less zipper noise, finer control of tuning/detuning etc. - In theory, even MIDI can do 14bit resolution (coarse/fine controllers are part of the standard) - but it never seems to be implemented. There's no technical reason why the knobs/sliders on a MIDI control surface shouldn't be just as responsive as those on a real analogue synth - to me the stepped action of 7bit controlllers just doesn't feel quite right.

Not only in theory, isn't NRPN using that 14bit resolution feature?

Anyhow, I am getting RGB LED strips and bulbs that I ordered at Deal Extreme nad want to hook that up with DMX and control it with MIDI. Actually there are a lot of options, like this one.

http://www.lanbox.com/

I think the cheapest USB DMX interface that can handle MIDI notes and CC is about 69 Euro's.

trogluddite · 27 Feb 2011

AngularMomentum wrote: Not only in theory, isn't NRPN using that 14bit resolution feature?

It certainly can do - but so few synths/keyboards make use of it - apart from the PB wheel on my master keyboard, every control on all of my MIDI controllers are 7bit only. Microcontroller ICs with multichannel ADCs (usually 10bit at least), are ridiculously cheap, so I can't undestand why nobody makes use of the extra resolution.

AngularMomentum · 27 Feb 2011

Imo it is quite a common feature (that I mostly do not use). Novation and Korg feature NRPN by default with a bunch of models. My JX and VS-1680 handle NRPN, also the AKAI MPK-49's rotary knobs can transmit NRPN as well. The only thing in my set-up not handling NRPN is an AKAI S-1100, but apart from soft pedal I do not think it handles any CC as well, SYSEX only.