motu midi express question???

[gearaholic79]

i recently aquired a motu midi express at goodwill for 5 bucks. it has no usb,4 midi ins/6 outs,smpte i/o,and 3 ports that say to computer a/b/thru peripheral.

i think it does routing and merging,but what else?can it change midi channels?

how do i program its user presets?what cable do i use to connect(looks like

s-video w/more pins maybe 8 or so) to a computer?do i need a driver?

 

its not xt or 128 or pc... when i google it theres not much info.the sticker on the bottom sez 1993.motu doenst seem to support discontinued products.

 

thx c

[augerinn]

IIRC, it's a "baby" Express XT. Does it have a parrallel connection on the back ?

 

I'm using the Express XT parallel with absolutely no problems. The drivers, and the latest dashboard (clockworks) are avaiable at MOTUs site. It was a pain getting installed, as it's counter intuitive and there's absolutely NO help from MOTU, but once working they are great little units.

 

Lastly, the Express Xt had 2 chipsets. The older ones don't support XT. It may be the same with the express. MOTU has them for $20.00, and it's a simple IC swap.

[gearaholic79]

is the "baby" one a half rack cuz this one is 19"?what does a parrallel connector look like?

[augerinn]

Yeah, the small one is 1/2 rack. Sounds like you have the XT.

 

The connector is a regular old parrallel port, like this:

 

 

 

Google MOTU Express XT and XP, there's a page out therre somewgere to tell if your serial number needs the chip upgrade or not. Actually, I think it's at MOTU.

[gearaholic79]

nope no parrallel(25pin din?)these are 8pin and round smaller than midi

[Helmey]

I'm pretty sure you have one of the oldest MOTU MIDI Express Mac interfaces. The 8 pin cable you're talking about is the now defunct Mac ADB (Apple Desktop Buss) connection. You would need an older pre-iMac Mac to run this interface or an ADB to USB adapter. It will not run on a PC. You can still use it as a standalone MIDI patcher with the factory settings. Live Keyboards is usually the setting that routes one input to all the outputs. I think you would need the software drivers to store your own presets.

 

If you want to use it as a MIDI interface for your computer (unless you use an old Mac), I'd suggest finding something newer on ebay. You'll spend more time and money than it's worth to get this one running.

 

Here's a link to an ebay auction with photos of the connector I'm talking about:

http://cgi.ebay.com/MOTU-Midi-Express-Midi-Interface-EXCELLENT_W0QQitemZ110360656527QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item110360656527&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[augerinn]

Good call Helmy, I forgot about the "orange" ones. Yup, old MAC only for those.

 

Here's the one I have

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/MOTU-MIDI-Express-XT_W0QQitemZ330316622741QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item330316622741&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

 

And here's the USB version

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/MOTU-Midi-Express-XT_W0QQitemZ270363999502QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item270363999502&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[gearaholic79]

thanks guys

5 dollar merge and thru isnt bad

is there anywhere to find a manual or list of foctory presets?