USB midi keyboard for second manual?

[mojotele65]

so if I was to get a USB type B (male) to USB type B (male) cable, can I connect my Maudio Keygen 49 to my Electro 4 as a second manual or do I need a 5 pin midi type keyboard?

[harmonizer]

I have not figured out how to use an external MIDI controller as a second keyboard with my Electro 3. I have not done a complete investigation on this, but I was under the impression that my Electro 3 did not support this.

[RedLeo]

No you can't do that, the USB ports are for connecting to a computer only.

USB requires a Host device and a Target device ie a sort of "master and slave" setup. The computer is the Host device, and the two keyboards are both Target devices, so the keyboards cannot be connected together successfully. This is why standard USB leads are normally different at each end of the cable, with an A connector and a B connector, so that the USB lead itself can only be plugged in when you have the correct setup, one Host and one Target.

It is possible for a keyboard to be designed to be a Host device, but this is still pretty rare - the Korg Kronos for example, can work as a Host device. If you look at the back panel of a Kronos, you will see two USB ports, one A type and one B type, indicating that it can be either a Host or Target depending on what you're doing.