How to connect DGX-230 to android phone/tablet?

[hobbieman]

Hi,

I have a Yamaha DGX-230 keyboard which I am trying to connect to an Android phone or to an android tablet for my son. He wants to play a game that is called "Perfect Piano" which supposedly allows you to use an external "midi" keyboard connected via USB OTG cables.

I have the USB OTG cables (2 different models) and have connected the keyboard and phone together but the game does not recognize the keyboard. I have connected these directly and also through a powered USB hub but both result in no reaction from the application on the phone, though the phone does see something is connected. I have also tried 3 different android phones: HTC, Motorola and a Google Pixel 3.

I have connected the keyboard to a windows 10 laptop and the laptop does recognize the keyboard and I am able to transfer midi files to it successfully. So the USB port on the keyboard works and I know the OTG cables work because I can use those for other devices.

So... anyone have any ideas what could be wrong or what else I could try?

Thanks!

 

[SeaGtGruff]

It's possible that the DGX-230 isn't class compliant, in which case it will need a compatible USB-MIDI driver to work on the tablet-- and Yamaha doesn't make a USB-MIDI driver for Android.

You say that the keyboard works with a Windows computer. Did you have to install Yamaha's USB-MIDI driver for Windows in order to get the keyboard to work, or does it work without having to install a driver?

 

[hobbieman]

I installed a yamaha driver on windows, but did not try to use it without it. :-( Thanks!

 

[happyrat1]

First of all, what exactly is an OTG cable?

If you mean a USB MIDI Interface cable then it should work without any drivers if it's Class Compliant.

Older Yamaha Keyboards are not class compliant so their USB connections do require proprietary drivers.

MIDI is MIDI however and doesn't use any special drivers if you are using the 5 pin DIN MIDI ports.

Then there's the question of what version of Android are you trying to interface to?

I think you need version 7 or later to gain MIDI functionality.

Even then compatibility is a crapshoot.

Gary

 

[SeaGtGruff]

OTG is USB On-The-Go, which is a spec that allows a device to act as a USB host even though historically speaking it did not act as a USB host device and hence did not have the type of USB port (meaning type A versus type B) that a USB host device has.

This was generally more of an issue with Android tablets and Android phones, which could use USB to connect to a USB host such as a computer for transferring data, but could not itself be used as a USB host device for things like USB flash drives or USB peripheral devices such as USB-MIDI keyboards.

OTG is now included in the Android OS, but it didn't use to be.

Regardless, you need an OTG cable or OTG adapter to connect USB peripheral drives and devices to the USB port of an Android tablet or phone, similar to how you need a special adapter to connect those same peripheral drives and devices to an iOS tablet or phone.

Anyway, the DGX-230 has a USB-MIDI port, but not MIDI IN/OUT ports, and as far as I know it isn't class compliant, so it needs the USB-MIDI driver to work with most USB host devices. I'm guessing that it might work with an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch without needing Yamaha's USB-MIDI driver, because iOS doesn't seem to require it; my old YPT-400 works beautifully with my iPad without Yamaha's driver, even though the YPT-400 isn't class compliant and requires Yamaha's driver when connecting to Windows and Mac computers.

EDIT-- Sorry, I hit Post before I was finished.

I don't know if it will help in your situation, but if you're able to use the DGX-230 with your Windows computer then you might be able to use rtpMIDI to communicate MIDI back and forth between the Windows computer and the Android phone via your Wi-Fi network:

- The DGX-230 connects to the Windows computer via USB.
- The Windows computer uses Yamaha's USB-MIDI driver to convert the USB signal to standard MIDI data.
- The Windows computer uses the free rtpMIDI program to transmit the MIDI over your Wi-Fi network.
- The Android phone receives the MIDI over your Wi-Fi network.

I've never done this myself, so I'm not sure whether the app on your Android phone needs to be programmed to accept MIDI from over a network, or if you need a second app that creates a virtual MIDI port that your first app can connect to, etc.

It just so happens that I got an Amazon Fire 7 tablet today during Prime Day. Amazon's Fire OS is forked off of Android, and I already have rtpMIDI installed on my Windows computer, so I'll investigate and see if there are any apps for Fire OS or Android that I can test this with.

 

[hobbieman]

@SeaGtGruff Thanks!! That rtpMIDI sounds promising.

Also, my daughter has an iphone, she might let us borrow it to see if it works on iOS.

One other thing: how do I receive the live MIDI data (ie. keystrokes) from the keyboard on the windows machine? Is there some software you'd recommend to at least test that? From what I have seen/tried so far, the Windows software I have from Yamaha only allows me to transfer MIDI files from the PC to the yamaha keyboard.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

There are several free DAWs for Windows that you could use (DAW = Digital Audio Workstation, software that lets you record, edit, and mix audio and MIDI tracks on a computer). With a DAW you can record the keyboard's MIDI and play it back to the keyboard, or use the keyboard to play virtual instruments on your computer, etc.

But if you just want to verify that the keyboard's MIDI is getting to the computer okay then you could use the free MIDI-OX program to see (monitor) the MIDI data coming from the keyboard.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Can you clarify what app you're trying to use? I searched for Perfect Piano on my Fire tablet and it came up with an app by Yokee, which I don't think is it. Amazon's website shows Perfect Piano by Revontulet Studio, is that it?

EDIT: I "bought" the free Perfect Piano app by Revontulet Studio through the online Amazon Appstore, but it won't show up in my library on my Fire tablet. Apparently it isn't compatible anymore, because someone else mentioned having the same problem in the app reviews. If that's indeed the correct app, I'll have to see if I can get the app to install on a different Android device.

 

[hobbieman]

Yes, it is the Perfect Piano app by Revontulet Studio. Ok, thanks I am going to try the MIDI-OX first, then if that works I will search for a DAW.

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

I had to look up about this App out of curiosity and found that it is a learning app which does look pretty good for kids but probably only effective with an attached keyboard.

A sledgehammer solution ........ buy an iPad.