Customer Reviews

USB MIDI Cable Converter PC to Music Keyboard Window Win Vista XP, Mac OS

5 star:		(180)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(76)

 

 

I bought a cheap yamaha keyboard about 6 years ago. It had the option of midi connection with computers, but at the time Yamaha wanted like half the price of the keyboard for the connecting cord! So I didn't get it. Now I was looking at this and the price is such a steal in comparison I thought I would try it. It worked! I have a piano program, and the cord connects to both my Vista computer and my XP computer without trouble -- just plug it in. Remember to plug the "In" into the "Out" and vise versa. It comes with instructions specially says to do that, and I messed up anyway. Silly me.

Good deal, I recommend it. But do remember that you need a piano program to make things happen, the same way you need a word processing program or something before you can type something on the computer with a normal typing keyboard. You can find freeware piano keyboard software such as Anvil Studio on the internet.

I've tested this MIDI-to-USB cable under OS X (CoreMIDI) and Linux (JACK) with a Casio keyboard and a Yamaha digital piano. Everything works without problems. And the price point is remarkable! Most of these adapters seem to cost around $40-50, so this is quite a deal.

And yes, you need to plug the end that says "MIDI Out" into your "MIDI In" socket on your keyboard, but that's how it always is with MIDI...

I hate leaving reviews claiming something's "broken", but in this case there were some serious problems. So my problems:

1. The device does not handle run-on MIDI commands properly. I doubt that many modern MIDI devices use run-on commands, as they were a somewhat confusing bit-saving mechanism from the 20th century. The keyboard I used was a Kurzweil SP-88. I suspect this is a design-defect in the product. More on this below.

2. The device would not enumerate on my main PC. That box is a custom-built machine using a P5B Deluxe motherboard which has never had any problems with any other USB devices. I even tried clocking the box down to normal speeds; Vista gives me a vague error about the device malfunctioning, and Ubuntu gives me a read error during enumeration in dmesg (which, to be fair, wasn't any more useful in this context.)

3. For all the reviewers who said the cable was labeled backwards: MIDI cables are always connected so that the "OUT" of one device goes to the "IN" of another device. MIDI supports a ring-shaped daisy-chain of devices that way. This cable was not labeled backwards.

Elaborating on point 1:

On the wrong equipment, when you do this:
1. Press-and-hold key1.
2. Press-and-hold key2.
3. Release key1.
4. Release key2.

You get this:
1. Press-and-hold key1.
2. Press-and-hold key2.
3. Release key1.
4. Press-and-hold key2 again.

For those technically inclined, here's the data stream from my SP-88 using the old serial cable I was replacing (I had to resurrect a dead machine to get this; I'm forging note velocities for easier comparison):
90 40 45 3c 48 80 40 62 3c 61

Here's what this product read:
90 40 45 90 3c 48 80 40 62 90 3c 61

Here's the nearest valid sequence it could have provided:
90 40 45 90 3c 48 80 40 62 80 3c 61

Note the 80 instead of 90 in the third-to-last byte - "80" means "note off", "90" means "note on". This was a deal-killer for me; your mileage may vary.

I replaced the cable with an M-Audio cable from a local shop for 3x the price; that cable also reprocesses run-on commands, but does it appropriately (the third sequence above is what I would get.)

The seller was courteous and provided a full refund, including shipping, so all I lost to them was time. I'd buy from these guys again, just not this product.

Amazon has this generic web page for MIDI cables. It appears as if it is only for one product but is it not. It lumps a similar, but not identical, product , with the same price and shipping options but from DIFFERENT VENDORS/MANUFACTURERS. Buyer beware, they are not all the same!
Some cables work great, others are garbage, and they look similar. It all depends on the vendor. I found this merely by chance and I think it explains the extreme and polarized reviews in here. If you choose the different vendors the reviews are the same for all of them, in other words people have unknowingly been writing reviews for similar but different products in the same web page.
Amazon, how can you do this?!!
I bought the cable from HDE and it works great in both my Mac under OSX and a PC laptop under XP. No lags or anything wrong with my piano teaching program and a Yamaha keyboard. Then, I needed another cable and came back to the same page to order using "add to cart". I received one that had a different package, and although it looked similar, was not identical. When plugged in my Mac it had a horrible lag, skipped notes; basically matching various negative reviews by others. Only then I checked my order form and noticed it was from a different vendor: "Sound around", even though I thought I was ordering the same product!
Bottom line, if you come to this page, Amazon appears to select randomly the vendor assigned to the "add to cart button". To get what you want you need to select from the list of vendors in the "More buying choices" menu right below "add to cart". Notice that more than one vendor is fulfilled directly by Amazon and offers the same price, free super saver, etc. I will be promptly returning the one from Sound Around, and already ordered from HDE. The cable that looks like this is the one that worked for me (I have no affiliation!): USB MIDI Cable Converter PC to Music Keyboard Window Win Vista XP, Mac OS. Hope this helps someone.

I ordered this item with fingers crossed that I could get into computer-based music recording without spending a fortune. I have an older Korg SP-100 keyboard and used this cable to connect it to my computer which runs Tracktion 3 recording software. Having installed the software and some VST plugins for instrument sounds, and having connected my keyboard via this usb/midi cable and done a few rounds of simple recording to test the setup, I am happy to report that everything seems to be working well. I can't really comment on the quality or longevity of the cable since I've only had it a short while, but at less than $10 my expectations won't be hard to exceed. If you need a simple & cheap way to use a midi controller with your computer, this seems like a great way to go. And for the record, my computer runs Vista Home Premium and there have been no compatibility or driver issues.

Does not work on any computer with a 64 bit operating system. I wish I had read the small print details because it does say this is a 32 bit cable. Problem is that most newer computers now are 64. I guess this only works on the older type computers with 32 bit systems. I've tried to find patches and hot fixes thru different sources, but nothing seems to work on my windows vista, service pak 2, 64 bit system. Lesson learned, read the small print.

This device doesn't work for Mac OS 10.6.4 with GarageBand 09. I have plugged the cable midi in to my Yamaha Nocturne midi out and only random sounds come out. I see in other reviews that this has also happened to other people. Save yourself time and money and get a decent cable! I learned my lesson!

The cable works fine, no fuss. The IN/OUT markings mentioned by the last reviewer do seem to be backwards, but it was the same with the last MIDI cable I had so maybe this is just the way it is with MIDI?

I've used a 2x2 MIDIsport from M-audio for years. I recently upgraded to Windows 7 64-bit and M-audio is dragging their feet coming up with drivers for my device. So I had to find an alternative. Suffice it to say, I paid $50 for my 2x2, and here, less than $7 for this cable, shipping included. And I cannot believe how well this works. It just works. With the midisport, I was constantly installing and upgrading drivers. This device? I plugged it in and it was instantly recognized by Windows 7, my DAW (Mixcraft) immediately recognized it, and I was off recording without notable latency in no time. In fact, the midisport had worse latency than this cable. INCREDIBLE. I give this thing 6 out of 5 stars for the best MIDI to USB bargain out there. I'm running one from my casio keyboard, and just ordered another for my yamaha electronic drum kit. Cannot recommend highly enough.

Yeah, great value and works like a charm between my DP, Yamaha 161 and Mac laptop. I couldn't ask for more! Must have to run the Piano and Keyboard, learn to play piano program