Two-way midi communication with Kemper using single 7-pin midi cable

nightlight · Nov 17th 2016

So I have a midi floorboard that can handle two way communication using a 7-pin cable, but the Kemper does not support this. Also, while you could normally power the floorboard using phantom power, this is also not supported by the Kemper.

Needless to say, this made setup and tear down time incredibly tedious, with a lot of cables running all over the place.

I did a little searching on ebay and came across this interesting doohickey.

[Blocked Image: http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r704/jimmyrage/Midi%20Connector_zpssnkzzuno.jpg]

It has two 5 pin midi female jacks for in and out on one end and one seven pin female jack on the other. It also has a small DC power jack to connect a power supply to.

Tried it out with the Kemper and it works like a charm, not I only need one cable running from my rack to my floorboard for both power as well as two-way communication. The power supply is hooked up within the rack, so I don't need to worry about connecting and disconnecting anything, just hook up the 7 pin cable to the floorboard and I am good to go.

While this product was specifically designed for the Gordius Little Giant series of foot controllers, I don't see why it wouldn't work for something like a Liquid Foot or RJM Mastermind that can also do two-way communication and use phantom power.

ebay seller is midikabel and they are quite friendly and the product works. Very happy with this solution. Even Xavier from Uno4Kemper/Gordius told me that he would look to them in future for customised midi cables.

JeeCee · Nov 17th 2016

If u use shielded utp you have 9 pin so you can add 2 footswitches !!!

Lokasenna · Nov 17th 2016

Nice find. This looks like it would be make my FCB1010 single cable project a little cheaper. (Can't use Xavier's solution because it would cost something like $200 to get over here)

st33l · Nov 17th 2016

Can i use this Gordius Little Giant in between my kemper and my bfc 1010? I think there is just 5 pin connectors on both 1010 and the kemper but on Gordius Little Giant it has 7 pins...will it work anyway?

lookitsrich · Nov 17th 2016

Take a look at RJM Music. I use the Mastermind GT22 with one of their boxes to connect to the Kemper. The box as 2 5 pin connections, 1 power, and then a 7 pin out. Power is sent over the 7 pin as well as send and receive. You hook the midi in and out of the Kemper into the 5 pins and away you go. Here's a link: http://www.rjmmusic.com/xcart/…puts-.html?category_id=16

Lokasenna · Nov 18th 2016

Quote from st33l

Can i use this Gordius Little Giant in between my kemper and my bfc 1010? I think there is just 5 pin connectors on both 1010 and the kemper but on Gordius Little Giant it has 7 pins...will it work anyway?

The Little Giant is a foot controller, not the cable adapter in the picture.

st33l · Nov 18th 2016

Ohh i see. But my question remain. I want to know about the cable adapter if i can use it with the kemper AND the 1010. I found it on ebay and thninking of purchasing it.

Lokasenna · Nov 18th 2016

You would have to do a few other things first.

- An FCB, by itself, needs two 5-pin MIDI cables and 120v power.

- That adapter lets you combine two 5-pin MIDI cables + low voltage power into one 7-pin cable.

- Unless you modify the FCB to run on 9v DC, which is pretty easy if you know what you're doing, having low voltage power in the cable wouldn't help you.

- Without modifying the FCB's MIDI jacks, you need to split the signal back into two 5-pin MIDI cables when you get there.

So, if you bought two of that adapter, it would let you run a single MIDI cable from the Kemper to the FCB instead of two. You could always do the power mod at a later date if you wanted to.

st33l · Nov 18th 2016

As you see i dont know anything about this so here is next one. If i choose to use only midi out from fcb could i then use that adapter. What i want is phantompower and just ability to change sounds and i dont have skills to do the phantompower mod

paults · Nov 18th 2016

Tape an AC power cable and MIDI cable(s) together. Instant phantom power. Done!

st33l · Nov 18th 2016

Thnx for the advice. I anyway wounder if i can use this adapter if i use only midi out on fcb or is it not possible to just buy it and connect it and use it

nightlight · Nov 18th 2016

Quote from st33l

Thnx for the advice. I anyway wounder if i can use this adapter if i use only midi out on fcb or is it not possible to just buy it and connect it and use it

If you only use midi out from the FCB, there would be no advantages from the connector. This device only has a 7-pin out.

But from what I know, the FCB1010 uses 10V AC power. I thought it would be possible to phantom power it, but this makes it incredibly difficult. You can find 5-pin to 7-pin midi cables with a power jack on ebay, but none that are 5-pin to 5-pin.

I don't think if you buy two of them and then interconnect them with a 7 pin midi cable in-between it'll work either. The five-pin sides are not wired for power, you may wreck something.

paults · Nov 18th 2016

Unless the FCB1010 is wired internally to accept power through the MIDI connector, you cannot phantom power it through the MIDI connector.

st33l · Nov 18th 2016

Okey i got it now. Thank you very much for the answers

nightlight · Nov 19th 2016

If you have a friend who's handy with electronics, you might want to read this too.

http://www.voes.be/fcb1010/pdf…tom%20power%20adaptor.pdf

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