request for next firmware update

[prehm]

Hello there,

i am having a blast with this device. there are two things though that i would really like to see added in a future firmware update:
i am using a breath controller (wired) and the cme widi master dongle for wireless midi on my linnstrument. it would be fantastic if i could use the usb port on the linnstrument to hook up my breath controller and forward the midi information through the DIN midi port.

second thing is minor but would certainly be helpful: i am using the cc faders option for one split all the time to control effects while performing.it would be immensely helpful if I could customize the color of individual faders, as this would make it easier for me to discern their respective functions and keep track of their assignments.

Have a good day!

[hesitz]

i am using a breath controller (wired) and the cme widi master dongle for wireless midi on my linnstrument. it would be fantastic if i could use the usb port on the linnstrument to hook up my breath controller and forward the midi information through the DIN midi port.

You should be able to do this if you connect your breath controller to the 5-pin MIDI IN port, by enabling MIDI Pass Thru, which echoes incoming midi to the MIDI OUT port. [To enable: in Global Settngs > MIDI/POWER column ("MIDI I/O" on older units), hold “MIDI JACKS”. Swipe right to select “THRU”. Now the DIN MIDI OUT jack will both send MIDI OUT data and also echo received MIDI IN data.]

I'm not positive, but I don't think the MIDI Pass Thru also passes thru midi coming in via USB midi. So you'd need to change things up a bit.

[Gromit42]

Hello there,

i am having a blast with this device. there are two things though that i would really like to see added in a future firmware update:
i am using a breath controller (wired) and the cme widi master dongle for wireless midi on my linnstrument. it would be fantastic if i could use the usb port on the linnstrument to hook up my breath controller and forward the midi information through the DIN midi port.

Maybe a CME WIDI Uhost instead of the CME WIDI Master might be a better solution in your use case to connect both the breath controller and the LinnStrument via Bluetooth MIDI?
Would also need a small, unpowered USB hub.

No LinnStrument firmware update needed.

Plug the breath controller and the LinnStrument into separate USB ports on the USB hub.
Connect the USB hub to the WIDI Uhost's "USB Host/Device" port and a USB battery to the WIDI Uhost's "USB Power" port.
The WIDI Uhost supplies bus power to the USB hub's USB ports.

The WIDI Uhost has a magnet inside its case so would stick to the steel base of the LinnStrument.
Self-adhesive Velcro or some sort of 3D printed bracket to attach the USB hub and USB battery to the LinnStrument.

The WIDI Uhost has USB Type C sockets so some sort of convertors would probably be needed.
CME sell some USB convertor cables which might help?

My thought experiment only. Not tested in the real world.
Better ideas folks?

[hesitz]

Hello there,

i am having a blast with this device. there are two things though that i would really like to see added in a future firmware update:
i am using a breath controller (wired) and the cme widi master dongle for wireless midi on my linnstrument. it would be fantastic if i could use the usb port on the linnstrument to hook up my breath controller and forward the midi information through the DIN midi port.

Maybe a CME WIDI Uhost instead of the CME WIDI Master might be a better solution in your use case to connect both the breath controller and the LinnStrument via Bluetooth MIDI?
Would also need a small, unpowered USB hub.

No LinnStrument firmware update needed.

I think that would work.

But simpler might be to just attach the Uhost to the breath controller and use the Widi Master as is on the Linnstrument. You'd then connect both directly to the computer, two separate BLE MIDI connections, but I don't see that as worse than running through a hub.

If the breath controller has no power of its own, you can velcro a power charger onto it.

[prehm]

thanks for your replies.
i could probably use the midi in port, but i would need a USBmidi to DIN midi converter, since the breath controller uses USBmidi. the breath controller also receives power via usb and i don't think the DIN midi in port on the linnstrument can provide power.
WIDI uhost is also an idea that i thought about, but its 70 euros, and AFAIK it can not be used with a usb hub (somebody on thomann wrote that in a review). I would use uhost to send MIDI data from my breath controller directly to my ipad, but that would also mean that i'd need another power source.. the whole reason i am going for wireless MIDI is trying to keep my setup clean and simple, because I go to jam sessions a lot where I have to be able to set up and pack together everything quickly.

a software update would be the simplest solution except of course if there is a technical reason that the DINmidi ports and the USB midi port cannot be used at the same time.

cheers!

[SteveElbows]

If both devices USB ports are USB device ports, not USB host ports, then you cant connect them directly together anyway, you will also need something in the setup that can act as a USB host.

[Roger_Linn]

i am using a breath controller (wired) and the cme widi master dongle for wireless midi on my linnstrument. it would be fantastic if i could use the usb port on the linnstrument to hook up my breath controller and forward the midi information through the DIN midi port.

I'm sorry to tell you that LinnStrument's hardware design permits either the USB port or the round MIDI jacks to be used for MIDI, but not both at the same time. There is no workaround for this.

second thing is minor but would certainly be helpful: i am using the cc faders option for one split all the time to control effects while performing.it would be immensely helpful if I could customize the color of individual faders, as this would make it easier for me to discern their respective functions and keep track of their assignments.

Thank you for your suggestion. I feel that this is more of a special-case, personal-use feature. Unfortunately there are hundreds of such feature requests, but I don't have the resources nor does LinnStrument have a graphic UI to implement them all. If you'd like to read my guiding principal for adding features to LinnStrument's software, it's on the LinnStrument FAQ page, General tab, FAQ "Can you add this feature _________?". For all such personal-use features, that's why LinnStrument has an extensive MIDI implementation, a User Firmware mode, and open source code, permitting anyone to add any feature they desire.

I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you,
Roger Linn

[Smasha]

Widi Master and Widi Jack are an absolute PITA on Windows 11.
They disconnect and aren't seen.

Absolute nightmare experience.

Sent 2 Widi Masters(thought the first one was faulty)and a widi Jack back to Amazon.

Wanted to use it to record into Cubase from my Yamaha DTX Multi 12 in my bedroom but alas that dream has ended.
Now just use it to practise on.

Just wondering if a Widi Bud Pro would fix the issues?
That is a Usb Host that provides the bluetooth instead of the Motherboard's Bluetooth.

But I had such a bad experience,I don't want to go down that rabbit hole again.

[Roger_Linn]

Unfortunately, your Windows 11 Bluetooth problem will be the same whether your interface uses USB or DIN MIDI because the problem is with Windows receiving the Bluetooth signal reliably.

Note that LinnStrument can use either the USB or DIN jacks for MIDI, but not both at the same time.

Question: why do you want to use Bluetooth? For example, are you using LinnStrument in the standing position in concert, and are using a USB battery for power, and you don't want the audience to see any cables? If not and you're using LinnStrument on a table, powered by cable, and placed near your sound source as nearly all LinnStrument players do, then Bluetooth will only add reliability problems and timing latency. Notice that guitarists have the same wired/wireless choice and almost none use wireless except for major artists in large concerts.

[SteveElbows]

Just wondering if a Widi Bud Pro would fix the issues?

Yes the Widi Bud Pro completely removes operating system bluetooth issues from the equation. Because the OS will see that device as if it were any other (eg wired) USB class complaint MIDI device. Pairing etc is entirely taken care of by the Widi Bud Pro itself, the entire windows bluetooth stack becomes irrelevant, any other bluetooth hardware in your pc is no longer part of the equation.

If you only want to pair the Widi Bud Pro with one other Widi device at a time then so long as no further Widi devices are switched on in the area (or ipad etc with a connection to a widi device established) then you dont even need to do any config of the WIDI dongles. The 2 Widi devices should just auto-pair and Windows remains blissfully unaware that its even dealing with something that involves bluetooth. Its only if you want more than one Widi dongle to connect to the Widi Bud Pro simultaneously that you have to start faffing around with some slightly tedious Widi config app (which run on android and ios devices) in order to bond multiple Widi devices into a group that features the Widi Bud Pro at its heart.

To further illustrate how irrelevant the OS (and OS bluetooth config) is to the Widi Bud Pro, even if I had used the config app to setup the Widi Bud Pro in a particular way, I could then unplug the Widi Bud Pro from one computer such as a mac and plug it into a Windows computer and it would carry on working just the same. Or I could plug the Widi Bud Pro into a modern synth or groovebox, sequencer etc that has a USB host port, and so long as the device with the USB host port was designed to let people plug USB class compliant MIDI devices into that port, it should work.

[Smasha]

Ok I ordered the Bud Pro.
Ty for the info.