Hello guys. This is a very newbie question. I looked for something similar in this forum, but haven't found anything. Maybe it's reeeeally newbie of me.
At this very moment I'm using my Kawai MP7 as midi keyboard. Also I'm using an audio interface (M-Track 2x2M by m-Audio).
So I plugged my audio interface into my pc and also my keyboard into my PC. Is this the proper setup or should I link the keyboard in my audio interface? I never use the sounds inside my Kawai, only my VSTs.
Thank you for helping!
How to link your MIDI keyboard to PC
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thecontrolcentre thecontrolcentre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=76240 - KVRAF
- 35162 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from the wilds of wanny
Does the current setup work? If so, its fine. My midi keys and audio interface are connected like yours (over USB). Works great.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 40 posts since 18 Mar, 2018
Oh, I thought there were a standard setup, not one according to each keyboard manual.chk071 wrote:Not to rant, but... there is a manual available for that keyboard. If you follow the instructions there, you'll surely be able to set up what you want with it.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 40 posts since 18 Mar, 2018
Yes but I wonder... What the audio interface is for in this case?...thecontrolcentre wrote:Does the current setup work? If so, its fine. My midi keys and audio interface are connected like yours (over USB). Works great.
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- KVRAF
- 35410 posts since 11 Apr, 2010 from Germany
You don't necessarily need an audio interface to send MIDI in and out to the computer. What the interface does (or, actually, what SOME interface do) is to provide a MIDI interface, when you have a device which only has MIDI in and out. You can also send MIDI via USB, which is what most devices have these days. So, it really depends whether or not your keyboard has MIDI over USB. I suppose it has. That's why i said there is a manual, because it is surely described there how to set it up properly.
Oh, and what an audio interface generally does is to provide low latency audio for your computer. They're not primarily for use with MIDI connections. But, most have that as well.
Oh, and what an audio interface generally does is to provide low latency audio for your computer. They're not primarily for use with MIDI connections. But, most have that as well.
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thecontrolcentre thecontrolcentre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=76240
- KVRAF
- 35162 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from the wilds of wanny
Its for getting audio in & out of your PC. The clue is in the nameilwoody wrote:Yes but I wonder... What the audio interface is for in this case?...thecontrolcentre wrote:Does the current setup work? If so, its fine. My midi keys and audio interface are connected like yours (over USB). Works great.
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- KVRAF
- 7540 posts since 7 Aug, 2003 from San Francisco Bay Area
Following up on previous posts...
You need two things: a way to get MIDI into and out of your computer, and a way to get audio into and out of your computer.
An audio interface provides a way to get audio into and out of your computer. Your computer most likely already has built in audio, but it isn’t very good. Using an audio interface will give you lower latency (delay) between when you play a note and when you hear the resulting sound. It will give you cleaner audio with less noise. It will also give you professional input and output connections to hook up speakers, and record a guitar, microphone, or other instruments.
A MIDI interface lets your computer talk to other MIDI-compatible devices. You can use this to connect a MIDI keyboard to you computer, or to have your computer control external MIDI synthesizers. What I’m describing here is strictly MIDI as in a 5-pin round DIN MIDI connector.
If your controller keyboard has USB, you don’t need a special MIDI interface for it. Just plug it into your computer, make sure any software drivers are installed, and you should be good to go. If at some point you also want to add an external analog synthesizer or similar, you might need a MIDI interface to talk to it.
Further confusing (or simplifying) matters, many or even most modern audio interfaces are also MIDI interfaces. You connect that box to your computer with USB, and the interface gives you both audio and MIDI ports in and out. In this configuration, there is really no need to connect a USB MIDI controller keyboard to the audio interface... just plug the keyboard directly into the computer through USB. However, if you wanted to use an older keyboard controller which didn’t have USB built in, you would need to connect its MIDI out to the MIDI in of your interface.
I hope that helps clear things up a bit.
You need two things: a way to get MIDI into and out of your computer, and a way to get audio into and out of your computer.
An audio interface provides a way to get audio into and out of your computer. Your computer most likely already has built in audio, but it isn’t very good. Using an audio interface will give you lower latency (delay) between when you play a note and when you hear the resulting sound. It will give you cleaner audio with less noise. It will also give you professional input and output connections to hook up speakers, and record a guitar, microphone, or other instruments.
A MIDI interface lets your computer talk to other MIDI-compatible devices. You can use this to connect a MIDI keyboard to you computer, or to have your computer control external MIDI synthesizers. What I’m describing here is strictly MIDI as in a 5-pin round DIN MIDI connector.
If your controller keyboard has USB, you don’t need a special MIDI interface for it. Just plug it into your computer, make sure any software drivers are installed, and you should be good to go. If at some point you also want to add an external analog synthesizer or similar, you might need a MIDI interface to talk to it.
Further confusing (or simplifying) matters, many or even most modern audio interfaces are also MIDI interfaces. You connect that box to your computer with USB, and the interface gives you both audio and MIDI ports in and out. In this configuration, there is really no need to connect a USB MIDI controller keyboard to the audio interface... just plug the keyboard directly into the computer through USB. However, if you wanted to use an older keyboard controller which didn’t have USB built in, you would need to connect its MIDI out to the MIDI in of your interface.
I hope that helps clear things up a bit.
Incomplete list of my gear: 1/8" audio input jack.
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thecontrolcentre thecontrolcentre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=76240
- KVRAF
- 35162 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from the wilds of wanny
The OPs audio interface doesn't have any midi connectivity. Its a simple 2 in 2 out box. His keyboard has Midi in, out, thru & USB, so the only way for him to connect it to his PC is directly via USB.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 40 posts since 18 Mar, 2018
Yes it did. I've been suggested to buy an audio interface, but since I'm just using vst libraries at this very point I understand it's useless.deastman wrote:Following up on previous posts...
I hope that helps clear things up a bit.
In the event I will want to record a guitar or bass then the audio input will be the way.
Thank you for clarifying that for me!
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- KVRAF
- 7134 posts since 8 Feb, 2003 from London, UK
"Useless" isn't entirely the correct termilwoody wrote:I've been suggested to buy an audio interface, but since I'm just using vst libraries at this very point I understand it's useless.
. deastman highlighted a few positives that you'd get over using your built in audio, in particular
- lower latency (through using an ASIO driver that's better than ASIO4All)
- cleaner sound (which you will notice if you use decent headphones)
I only use MIDI to trigger samples but I wouldn't use a built-in audio interface.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 40 posts since 18 Mar, 2018
Oh, I understood that these positives were only when recording via audio, not MIDI. Well, that's much better then!pljones wrote:"Useless" isn't entirely the correct termilwoody wrote:I've been suggested to buy an audio interface, but since I'm just using vst libraries at this very point I understand it's useless.
deastman highlighted a few positives that you'd get over using your built in audio, in particular
- lower latency (through using an ASIO driver that's better than ASIO4All)
- cleaner sound (which you will notice if you use decent headphones)
I only use MIDI to trigger samples but I wouldn't use a built-in audio interface.
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thecontrolcentre thecontrolcentre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=76240
- KVRAF
- 35162 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from the wilds of wanny
In your first post you said " I'm using an audio interface (M-Track 2x2M by m-Audio)." Now you think its useless ... don't you have your monitors/headphones connected to it?ilwoody wrote:. I've been suggested to buy an audio interface, but since I'm just using vst libraries at this very point I understand it's useless.
