As far as I can tell, there ain't no such animal.

I have a MIDI controller/keyboard with USB output. I recently set up my iPad to be a part of my gear in the music room, and need to direct the output of the controller to both the iPad and my laptop. A hub won't work because (according to my experimentation) I could use one to connect two controllers to one device, but not the other way around. For MIDI signals, hubs appear to be directional.

There are plenty of MIDI splitters out there (2- , 3- , 4-to-1) but they all seem to use 5-pin DIN MIDI connectors. There are two problems with that solution - 1) AFAICT there are no USB to MIDI adapters/cables which is probably related to 2) MIDI controllers are USB-bus powered, and again AFAIK, there is no provision for providing power to a 5-pin DIN MIDI connector.

There are "USB MIDI Hosts" that accept a USB MIDI signal, but every one I've seen has a 5-pin MIDI out and a MIDI in. Even if I could find one that had two MIDI outs, then I'd still have the problem of converting the 5-pin MIDI to USB, and again, that isn't something that exists - although as a kludge I could use two of these, and only use the input plugs.

So am I stuck with having to have two MIDI controllers, one for each device, or is there something out there that I haven't yet found?

Thanks!

The only solutions that I can easily think of are overkill, if I'm being honest.

The MRCC is great. I have one. I like it.
The Kenton Interchanger is very similar and not yet released.

I don't think that USB would allow one device to talk to two hosts. There's too much chatter back and forth for set up and maintenance of the connection.

Yeah, I’m starting to think that the absence of hardware to do what I want to do is an indication that it can’t be done.

I’m thinking that maybe rather than two controllers that I invest in a controller that can connect to two hosts (assuming that’s possible!)

Thanks!

I'm wondering if you could run the USB from the controller into one of the devices and then setup whatever software you're using to run it "through" to the other device.

I'm no expert but that's what I was thinking too.

Isn't the basic idea of MIDI to allow things to be in a 'chain'? Hence the MIDI in, MIDI out & MIDI thru connections?

My impression is that provided there is a path for the codes there's no fundamental issue with any MIDI device in the chain receiving codes from more than one device, or with more than one device receiving codes from a given device?

i.e. Where as in USB a device is 'talking' to a specific host (& vice versa), in MIDI a device sends out codes with no idea (or care) where it's going, just as any device seeing those codes has no idea (or care) what's sending it?

If that's how it works I guess the fundamental is finding some way of setting up passing on of the codes to where you need them?

I suspect that one USB device to two USB hosts isn't going to happen, but one USB device to a MIDI capable host, then split to/from multiple other MIDI devices might?

It might also be good to establish if you really need two way traffic (i.e. both IN & OUT) or only one of them? If the iPad & laptop only need to now which key was pressed (&how) then I think they only need MIDI in?

I wonder if there's any software you could run on the iPad (or laptop) to do some sort of routing of the MIDI from the USB connected controller?

Random thought: I wonder if there's any sort of 'MIDI over IP' facility that could help you get from the iPad to the laptop (ir vice versa)?

A quick search foumd that MIDI over IP does at least exist, e.g. https://www.nerds.de/en/ipmidi.html, however I have not investigated further.

Also, more in relation to my previous post, I found but have I not looked at in any detail at some MIDI routing software options produced by 'Soundigy': https://soundigy.com/index.php.

Those are just examples. I have no experience of either.

Thanks, David. I was also thinking that a software solution might do the job. The Soundigy PatchBay is worth a try. I’ve been toying with the idea of switching to a Mac Mini at some point, in part because of what appears to be amazing integration between the Mac & iPad. Wouldn’t be surprised if an all-apple approach wouldn’t also have some solution to this problem built-in. But that is something down the road a piece as my current laptop really doesn’t need replacement right now.

I have one of these cables from Roland.
https://www.perthpc.ca/products/copy-of ... 5011213398

Thanks. I believe that cable is intended to yield a 5-pin MIDI-in and MIDI-out connector from a USB source. Like if I have a controller with only 5-pin MIDI in & out connectors, that cable would allow me to plug it into a PC’s USB port.

Everything I have is strictly USB, which appears to be the limiting factor, both because USB is bi-directional, and the controller is USB bus powered. Those cables have no provisions to provide power to the USB end. To hardware-connect the controller to two devices, it appears that I’d need a USB host as an intermediary, but even that is questionable because it raises the question of which device the controller should be “listening” to. Not sure how the software solution gets around that, but I’ll report back after I’ve played with it.