MIDI & Windows 10

[bill_phillips]

I just built a new Windows 10 x64 DAW. Major Components are: Core i7-6850K 3.60GHz, 32GB DDR4, ASUS X99-DELUXE--II MB, AMD R7 250 GPU. I can't get my MPK49 USB 2.0 MIDI keyboard to work.

The MPK49 shows up reliably in Device Manager (DM) under Sound, video and game controllers and when I remove/insert the USB 2.0 connector into the back of the MPK49, it's line in DM goes away and comes back. I've uninstalled and reinstalled it in DM and I've tried to update drivers. According to DM I have the latest drivers and the device is working properly.

A MIDI troubleshooting video indicated that Windows 10 only has 10 MIDI input ports which can fill up preventing additional devices from being available, but I haven't found a way to find and edit that list.

Please advise of any USB MIDI input troubleshooting suggestions.

Thanks.
Bill

 

[ricdiculus]

Does the keyboard show up in your DAW software? Not sure what your using, but in sonar, it takes a few steps to get your midi signal to the software synth. For instance, I have to create a midi track as well as an audio track. In the midi track, you set its input to USB02 omni then for the audio track insert your softsynth there. asign the midi track output to the softsynth loaded in the audio track. Your DAW software my have a different procedure, but it should be similar. hope this make sense and good luck!

 

[bill_phillips]

Thanks ricdiculus. Yes it shows up in the DAW software, SONAR Platinum and it shows up in all the stand alone synths I have as well. It just doesn't work. I created an instrument track and selected the MPK49 MIDI input with no luck. Had the same problem with all the standalone keyboards. Nothing is responding to the keyboard.

 

[ricdiculus]

OK, lets see if we can figure out where the midi signal fails to communicate. Start with making a new project, using the 'normal' setting, which should give you two midi tracks and two audio tracks. In one of the midi tracks, select the MPK49 as the source. Arm the midi track to record and play a few notes on the keyboard. Is there any activity on the midi track (as indicated by the level meter)?

EDIT: You wont here anything at this point. We'll have to setup a softsynth once we can confirm a midi signal is present in sonar

 

[bill_phillips]

OK, lets see if we can figure out where the midi signal fails to communicate. Start with making a new project, using the 'normal' setting, which should give you two midi tracks and two audio tracks. In one of the midi tracks, select the MPK49 as the source. Arm the midi track to record and play a few notes on the keyboard. Is there any activity on the midi track (as indicated by the level meter)?

EDIT: You wont here anything at this point. We'll have to setup a softsynth once we can confirm a midi signal is present in sonar

I did what you asked. There's no activity. Here's a screenshot of the SONAR track https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfqza2fv6c0la28/MPK49%20MIDI%20Input%20Test%20170621.png?dl=0

 

[bill_phillips]

Ok. My new DAW has 4 USB 2.0 ports on the back panel. One was empty. So I moved the MPK49 cable to the empty port. Now it works. So for now I'm happy, though I expect more problems. It seems there is something wrong. I just don't know what.

 

[ricdiculus]

Are you experiencing latency issues from the time you play a note on the keyboard and when you hear the sound?
You will probably have to fine tune your buffer sizes of your audio interface to resolve that. If your audio interface supports ASIO drivers, make sure you use those. I've been able to get my latency down to approx. 11 ms. Its pretty fluid if you can get it down to that range. much more then that and you will experience lag. I have noticed in the past that sometimes Sonar can be a fickle b*tch indeed. I've been using cakewalk since ProAudio 3 (late '90s) and never a day goes by that I dont scratch my head at some point using it. Sonar is still my personal choice (probably just cause I've been using it so long) I actually got it set up on my Asus Win10 tablet, as well as my two primary recording rigs. Once you get it dialed in though, its fairly powerful software. I wish you much luck in your recording projects.