Conductive Labs – makers of the NDLR – has launched a Kickstarter project to fund production of the MIDI Router Control Center (MRCC), described as ‘a modern reinvention of the MIDI router’.
The MRCC offers DIN MIDI, 3.5mm MIDI, and USB connectivity, and lets you route and manipulate MIDI signals in many ways.
The MRCC is available to project backers starting at US $249.
something that will be much welcomed im sure
Kickstarter projects are notoriously risky. Conductive Labs did successfully deliver an arpeggiator on Indiegogo so they at least have some track record.
It is incredibly common that people want something that can host USB MIDI controllers without having to use a PC, so I think this is going to get funded. The price is high though: $349 after the early birds are taken. However the design looks solid, is rack mountable, can host tons of connections, and has a pretty nice described interface for merging, splitting, routing, filtering.
On the other hand, if you got room for such a huge device maybe you are in a room where you are already using a computer that can be the host.
There’s still room for a follow up device, a tiny portable version with not so many ports that costs a lot less, and can be configured over wifi using a web interface. Fortunately we already have that, it costs only $10, and I’m using it right now. It’s called the RaspberryPi Zero W.
@rabid bat: The tiny portable version is not a standalone unit but a 5 or 7 port output extender, connected to the main unit via an ethernet cable. Thus you can have these outputs available at any length from the main unit.
The main standalone unit has all functionality. Not only routing but many additional hard to come by ‘small’ features such as testing your midi connections and setup. Wait until you’ll see the final specs and demos, not to be underestimated.
Hey you misunderstood my post. The tiny portable version that is still needed is not their ethernet remote expander, which is cool. I’m talking about the need for a USB MIDI device host and router that is small and portable and costs less than $349. There’s nothing commercially and lots of people talk about the need for that. The device they show is massive and clearly for studios and large performance gigs, where one almost certainly already has a computer. The missing device people talk about is the one that doesn’t require a computer. Obviously, like all small MIDI routers, it has a computer, but people mean they don’t want to have to use a laptop and bootup and launch software to connect a bunch of USB MIDI devices in their garage or a coffee shop. I then shared the solution I am currently using, which costs $10 and works great. Obviously it’s not really $10. I paid $7 for the SD flash card, $2 for the USB power supply, $10 for the case, $7 for the USB hub, and also had to install and learn the drivers and write some software to allow the router/splitter/layerer/processor/arpeggiator/transposable polyphonic step-sequencer/microtuning/patch management features to be controlled from a web page presented by apache running on the pi so I can control it all from a phone, plus a little bit of soldering to add 5-pin DIN interface to the expansion pins. I have zero interest in commercializing, supporting, or assisting anyone in cloning this but if someone else wants to put together their own, that’s the starting point. In any case really awesome processors that do exactly what you need are available and cost $10, but require some “configuration”.
Kinda cool product, but will it function as a MIDI interface for computer as well?
The Kickstarter page indicates that it will have both USB Host and USB Device functionality, so I’d say that’s a yes.
Yes, PC or tablet USB client connection with 16 virtual MIDI I/Os.
Would be interesting if it had PLL clock stabilization / offset features
We’ll use a microsecond (millionth of a second) timer for MIDI clock. No reason for sloppy clocks on modern microcontrollers.
Looked like merging is dead simple. Bonus as compared to most older 8×8 boxes where you often only have two input merge ports.
If I were to install something like this in my studio, I’d prolly like to see the extender be (optionally) bi-directional. That way I could put it on the other side of the room, connect it via cheap ethernet cable, and connect ~3 devices bidirectionally with short MIDI cables.
Will be interesting to see what they come up with with regard to additional onboard software. Perhaps it could even run the MIDIHUB software? /dreaming
MIDIhub is pretty special, we love the filter graph UI and some interesting MIDI contortions. We plan to have some MIDI effects in MRCC but don’t think there will be much overlap with MIDIhub. It might be a good choice to have both!
Now that we finally have line of site to shipping the MRCC, we’ve opened pre-sales up on Backerkit. We’re trying to get Kickstart units shipped before Chinese New Year vacation starts on Feb 5. Pre-orders will ship in March 2021. https://mrcc.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/