MIDi Yamaha DJX Keyboard to Window's 7 device not recognised

[infairness]

MIDi Yamaha DJX Keyboard to Window's 7 device not recognised,

I have a Yamaha Djx 1 synth.
It's model was first released in 1998.
Im running Ableton on my Windows 7 64bit Dell Inspiron and wish to connect the keyboards built in plug and play feature to my laptop to use as a midi device.

I'm making the connection with a midi to usb cable. in device manager my cable device is recognised and installed. however when I power on my keyboard nothing happens. i downloaded the 64 bit yamaha to usb driver and it stops have way through claiming there is no device recognised. I have the cables inserted correctly and I seem to have the keyboard function set to deliver data, although it being an older model there is no function to transmit usb like on newer yamaha models. my keyboard's midi worked on a friends pc once he hooked it with a normal midi cable into an external sound card instantly. this tells me that data is capable of being transmitted, but im led to believe that my usb converter should do the same thing. i've spent 3 solid days trying to fix this and i hope someone has an answer so i don't have to spend an extra 100 on a sound card, thank's

 

[happyrat1]

First of all your Yamaha can't use the Yamaha USB driver because it literally is not supported in that capacity. ie. The keyboard has no USB port for the driver to recognize.

However, your setup should still work fine. Assuming your USB to MIDI cable is a class compliant USB device or that you have an appropriate driver loaded, Abelton should see the interface as a generic MIDI device.

Also you should know that MIDI is a funny standard for communication. Check your manuals for the USB to MIDI interface and make sure that you have the ports properly connected. The original MIDI standard requires MIDI IN to be connected to MIDI OUT and vice versa. ie. it was originally designed to operate as a serial loop like a token ring network. Some cheap modern USB to MIDI cables nowadays, however, reverse the order requiring IN to IN and OUT to OUT.

Older hardware could be damaged by reversing the cables, however, your keyboard and interface are new enough that that should not occur if you reverse the connections.

Anyway, the original MIDI spec is by no means plug and play. While your interface is recognized, Abelton still needs to be told exactly what kind of MIDI device is connected to your computer.

Somewhere in your Abelton configuration is a selection of synths and sound banks usually in some config file that you bring up in the preferences/options menus that will tell the sequencer exactly what kind of device it's talking to. Usually there's a selection of manufacturers and keyboards to choose from. If you can't find the exact make and model, choose the option of GM (General MIDI) device and at least you will be able to access the standard 128 GM patches and drumkits.

We're still not out of the woods yet. Check to see what channel the keyboard is sending and receiving on. That will be in both the Abelton Setup when you're laying down tracks as well as on the keyboard itself in the setup menus.

There are a total of 16 channels to choose from, and you can select just one, or if you are only using one device, you can choose ALL or OMNI.

This is just off the top of my head for now. I have had no personal experience with Yamaha Vintage keyboards since I had a DX27S hooked up to an Atari ST back in the 80's and I've never worked with Abelton, but even though the terminology may vary slightly these settings are core applicable to virtually every MIDI setup out there.

Let me know if this helps and if not then post any further questions here on the forum.

Regards,
Gary

 

[infairness]

Gary your a legend for taking the time to explain that, i've posted this on many forums and your info has got my ableton picking up midi but unfortunately we're still not fully out of the woods yet!
the midi signal is playing only 'once' when i hit a key, and maintains the signal until i let go, the second time I press a key nothing happens, then 5 seconds later it lets me send another signal through, at least i know that ableton is recognizing this as a usb composite device, but this lag is my new headache..
i wonder why it is only sending one midi command and then a 5- 10 second lag, i have a very fast computer, there seems to be still some problem with the keyboards ability to send the data, the volume and sync are working with ableton from my keyboard, even it's preloaded music styles are playing through ableton. but the key's have me scratching my head , could it still be a driver issue or a faulty usb cable,

(if I hit two keys simultaneously they play the two correct notes together, but if i hit them both a fraction of a second apart only the one key sounds and then i have to wait 5 seconds before it sends the 2nd one.)

thanks again gary.

 

[happyrat1]

I'm happy you're making progress.

From an electronic viewpoint it sounds like you're experiencing some sort of buffering error or data collision on the MIDI bus.

You could try playing with the parameters in Abelton and on the Yamaha controlling Local Control (On/Off) or it could be some other setting squirreled away in a menu somewhere. Maybe some cryptic label like SysCTRL or some other weird assed parameter that's fouling up the timing of the circuit.

Another suspect parameter would be MIDI Sync (Master/Slave/Off) Play with those settings. Two masters could cause that sort of behaviour. In fact I'm almost certain this is the root of your problem. Both Abelton and the Keyboard are trying to send the master clock signal over the same bus causing a data collision and timeouts everytime you hit a key.

Anyway, screw around with the settings in a fashion that would make an old hacker proud. You'll eventually nail it and there's always some kind of reset command or button if things get too messed up.

At this point, there's no substitute for good old trial and error...

Keep us posted...

Gary

 

[MrThingy]

Hi guys, OK so I have a fairly basic midi controller a Yamaha DJX which used to work well with an M-Audio Audigy ZX Platinum Pro sound card with onboard midi ports.

Sadly that PC and technology became obsolete with modern DAWs and computer specifications and so the time to upgrade had come.

I've got a decent Laptop (I know! Should have got a desktop!) and the audio card I bought was an AKAI EIE.

The issue is the Midi Controller seems not to be working when I connect it to the midi ports at the back of the soundcard. The soundcard has analogue midi in, then the soundcard connects to the PC via a USB.

The settings on the keyboard should be the same and I can see a midi signal is being triggered. Just nothing happens in the DAW (Cubase 8.5 Pro)

Any ideas. I was told the controller should work with the soundcard.

I'm stumped!

Thanks guys.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Do you know what type of USB cable you're using (USB 2 or USB 3), and what type of USB port the laptop has? You should stick to USB 2 if at all possible. Also, the USB cable shouldn't be too long.