Nord User Forum

JVSalazar wrote:Do you just set your CP73 touch to normal and adjust everything on the velocity converter?

The first thing if considering the MIDIsolutions Velocity Converter is the power question. In my eyes, it's not worth the effort to always plug in a 2nd box with power adapter into the MIDI connection just for power injection. Yamaha has quite a number of units mentioned as 'not working' on this page: http://midisolutions.com/faqs.htm#LED. Maybe you'd need to pay more for a full event processor from another brand to plug in between.

The second thing you need to know is that the MIDIsolutions velocity converter has no button to switch between different velocity curves on a gig or so. The little black box has something like 40 or 50 velocity curves built in plus one for personal customising. And you need to preprogram it via MIDI SysEx or a Windows utility - even for the built-in curves. So you probably need a MIDI connection to you computer, too.

I don't have a Yamaha CP73 but an old CP33 that has only "soft", "normal" and "hard" velocity settings (besides "off") - cf. footer. I adapted my converter to match with the "normal" Yamaha setting and would be able to change the keyboard character a little while changing its own setting. It took 3 or 4 trials to get a velocity curve I'm now happy with. As long as your CP73 transmits all velocities needed into different MIDI values, you'll be able to set a curve that fits the Nord sounds.

My personal plans: If ever I get me an additional NP5-73, it wouldn't be before Nord has published its sound library. I'm a bit interested in the 'round robin' samples and the 'natural vibrato' thing. We'll see. If I opt for 73 keys, it'd be in the sense cphollis mentioned: It's not to be considered to replace a real piano anyway, being only a tool for gigging...

FZiegler wrote:The first thing if considering the MIDIsolutions Velocity Converter is the power question. In my eyes, it's not worth the effort to always plug in a 2nd box with power adapter into the MIDI connection just for power injection. Yamaha has quite a number of units mentioned as 'not working' on this page: http://midisolutions.com/faqs.htm#LED.

The only Yamaha listed that won't power it is the little Reface, and I suspect that's because the Reface itself doesn't include 5-pin MIDI connections. Instead, there's a dongle you can attach if you need those connectors, and it doesn't carry power. I think you were probably looking further down the page, at the listed Yamahas that don't work with the *older* MIDI Solutions devices, before the devices were updated to run on as little as 3.3v instead of requiring 5v.

anotherscott wrote:The only Yamaha listed that won't power it is the little Reface, and I suspect that's because the Reface itself doesn't include 5-pin MIDI connections. Instead, there's a dongle you can attach if you need those connectors, and it doesn't carry power. I think you were probably looking further down the page, at the listed Yamahas that don't work with the *older* MIDI Solutions devices, before the devices were updated to run on as little as 3.3v instead of requiring 5v.

No, there are two lists on that page - one for 'no functionality for all MIDISOLUTION products' (with the Reface mentioned) and a second for 'no functionality for classical, non-multivoltage products' with a bunch of Yamaha entries, including the YC61. But they are not tested systematically - only noted if customers report.

FZiegler wrote:

anotherscott wrote:The only Yamaha listed that won't power it is the little Reface, and I suspect that's because the Reface itself doesn't include 5-pin MIDI connections. Instead, there's a dongle you can attach if you need those connectors, and it doesn't carry power. I think you were probably looking further down the page, at the listed Yamahas that don't work with the *older* MIDI Solutions devices, before the devices were updated to run on as little as 3.3v instead of requiring 5v.

No, there are two lists on that page - one for 'no functionality for all MIDISOLUTION products' (with the Reface mentioned) and a second for 'no functionality for classical, non-multivoltage products' with a bunch of Yamaha entries, including the YC61.

You started that paragraph with "no," but I think we are largely saying the same thing.

Background: When it comes to providing voltage at the MIDI Out terminal, MIDI keyboards fall into 3 categories: they can provide none, or they can provide 5 volts (earlier standard, from 1983), or they can provide 3.3 volts (an additional accepted standard that was added to the official spec in 2014, having already been implemented in some devices).

Since the first list consists of products reported to not supply power to the newer (multi-voltage) MIDI Solutions boxes that would mean these devices don't supply any power over MIDI. Because if a device supplied *either* 5V or 3.3V, it would work with these multi-voltage boxes.

The second list consists of products reported to not work with the older "original, non-MultiVoltage" (fixed 5V) versions of MIDI Solution boxes. The implication (though I admit this is not explicit) is that they probably DO work with the current versions of the MIDI Solutions boxes, unless they are ALSO listed in the first list (as numerous boards are, including the Reface). A board will be in this category (but not the first) if it supplies 3.3 volts. This is because the older, original, non-MultiVoltage versions of the MIDI Solutions boxes required 5 volts, whereas the newer, current, multi-voltage versions can work with either 5 volts or 3.3. volts, and so these MIDI Solutions will basically work with all keyboards, old and new, unless they supply no voltage at all, which is when you have to add their own power accessory.

That said, yes, I can see that it is possible that something could be only in the second list even if it also belongs in the first list, simply by virtue of no one ever having reported a problem with it working with their newer boxes. The fact that no one has reported a problem doesn't necessarily mean it does not exist, and I guess that's where you're coming from. In my experience, though, the vast majority of MIDI gear provides power, and usually the variable is only the question of whether it is supplying 3.3v or 5v, and moreover, this is consistent with what they say right on that page: "These MultiVoltage products resolve most compatibility issues." So I think it is safe to say that the current MIDI Solutions (multi-voltage) products will work on most if not all the products in the second list, unless they are also in the first list.

Thanks, anotherscott, for taking this much time. But no, I'm not sure we would say the same thing.

I bought my velocity converter last year, I think. It was new in a sense of production date. But it was the old, original design, so it definitely doesn't work with 3.3 V MIDI-out devices. According to the website, this is how it is: You have to be careful as actually most of the MIDIsolutions products still belong to the old type. No idea why. Maybe they are not much sold.

It's even worse: For some reason I haven't understood yet, I can't use my normal Win10 laptop with the USB3 sockets to program that box through a USB-MIDI-to-DIN-MIDI converter cable; only an older laptop with Win7 just works fine. That's why I said: You first have to figure out the power question. If this and the programming is solved, the rest is a no-brainer. It then works like a charm, needs no attention at all. You just pick it out of your toolbox and connect it - that's all. No battery charging etc. That's the other side.

This doesn't sound very favorable. But I still recommend that tool - you just need to verify... This is what the programming utility looks like - you can draw the curve with your mouse:

FZiegler wrote:Thanks, anotherscott, for taking this much time. But no, I'm not sure we would say the same thing.

I bought my velocity converter last year, I think. It was new in a sense of production date. But it was the old, original design, so it definitely doesn't work with 3.3 V MIDI-out devices. According to the website, this is how it is: You have to be careful as actually most of the MIDIsolutions products still belong to the old type. No idea why. Maybe they are not much sold.

It's even worse: For some reason I haven't understood yet, I can't use my normal Win10 laptop with the USB3 sockets to program that box through a USB-MIDI-to-DIN-MIDI converter cable; only an older laptop with Win7 just works fine. That's why I said: You first have to figure out the power question. If this and the programming is solved, the rest is a no-brainer. It then works like a charm, needs no attention at all. You just pick it out of your toolbox and connect it - that's all. No battery charging etc. That's the other side.

This doesn't sound very favorable. But I still recommend that tool - you just need to verify... This is what the programming utility looks like - you can draw the curve with your mouse:

VelocityCurve.png

Is that the curve that you settled on for your use with the converter?

Well, this curve is a previous version I used before OS 2.60 which contributed an improved MIDI velocity curve. It's less bent now - approximately at a velocity value of 50 or 55 in the middle instead of the 38 I originally had. Besides, it looks the same: goes from 0/0 to 127/127, just bent down in the middle.