Disklavier

Good afternoon, everyone.

Mark, you are correct that the Bluetooth LE MIDI adapter needs power. I have successfully used it with a MIDI controller keyboard that only has MIDI Out, but I had not considered the situation of a keyboard—such as a playback-only Disklavier, that only has MIDI In. So, I have conducted a further test.

On my DKC-850, the MD-BT01 works fine if it is connected only to MIDI Out. However, it is not visible (an therefore unpowered) if it is only connected to MIDI In. Therefore, I do not expect this device to work with playback-only Disklaviers unless one comes up with a way to supply the expected power.

Yamaha has a similar Bluetooth LE MIDI adapter, called the UD-BT01, that can connect to keyboards with a USB/MIDI To Host port. The USB port does not supply the necessary power, and the adapter must be connected to a USB power adapter that is plugged into AC:

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/keyboards/accessories/interfaces/ud-bt01/

While testing these adapters and similar products from other sources, I have noticed that one can sometimes get jitter on playback. In my experience, the jitter goes away if I power-cycle the adapter or do a disconnect/reconnect from the iPad or computer.

These adapters provide tremendous convenience. I have done extensive testing using multitrack General MIDI files that have lots of tracks plus a GM Reset SysEx message at the beginning. When authoring files, I make sure that my files don’t have other MIDI messages on the same beat at the SysEx message.

Regards,
PianoBench



> On Aug 8, 2016, at 1:06 PM, Mark Fontana mark@... [disklavier] <disklavier@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
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> That device is cleverly designed in that it appears to be powered by the current loop of the MIDI OUT port to which it's connected.  I suppose that means it would not work on a device equipped with only MIDI IN, since MIDI IN ports do not supply power (the connected external device drives an optocoupler).
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> On 08/07/2016 08:50 AM, 'George F. Litterst' PianoBench@... <mailto:PianoBench@...> [disklavier] wrote:
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>> Ed, here is a simple, wireless solution that can be applied to any Disklavier of any vintage:
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>> (1) Add the Yamaha MD-BT01 Bluetooth LE MIDI adapter to your Disklavier, connecting it to the MIDI In and MIDI Out ports:
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>> http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/keyboards/accessories/interfaces/md-bt01/ <http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/keyboards/accessories/interfaces/md-bt01/>
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>> (This is a relatively new product which made its debut in January.)
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