MIDIBOX Compatibility
UPDATE!: The newly released MIDIBOX 4 from Disaster Area (available HERE) is an ideal solution to control multiple TRS equipped MIDI devices. Including Swindler products! This can be done per their instructions using the accessible DIP switches, a regular TRS cable, and our typical instructions for MIDI mode. Using this is our recommendation going forward for any users just getting into the MIDI over TRS world.
If you just want to jump to the end and know the answer, here it is:
YES! Our pedals will work with many of the different MIDIBOX solutions out there.
Those by Disaster Area Designs and Chase Bliss Audio should work per the instructions farther below. The one offered by Meris will NOT work unfortunately due to how that one is wired.
BUT... If you have one of the older MIDIBOX solutions then the RED MOUNTAIN and THE GULF will require an additional custom jumper in order to work.
If you need one of these jumpers to get MIDI working with your rig or you WILL need one with a new purchase made through our store. Then either add a note to your order or send us a message through our contact form saying you need one and provide your shipping address.
YES! Our pedals will work with many of the different MIDIBOX solutions out there.
Those by Disaster Area Designs and Chase Bliss Audio should work per the instructions farther below. The one offered by Meris will NOT work unfortunately due to how that one is wired.
BUT... If you have one of the older MIDIBOX solutions then the RED MOUNTAIN and THE GULF will require an additional custom jumper in order to work.
If you need one of these jumpers to get MIDI working with your rig or you WILL need one with a new purchase made through our store. Then either add a note to your order or send us a message through our contact form saying you need one and provide your shipping address.
Custom Jumper Instructions
(For older MIDIBOX solutions)
In order for some Swindler products to work with existing MIDIBOX devices, an additional jumper needs to be used alongside the one already provided in our pedals.
This is necessary to rewire our MIDI input circuit to work with the type of MIDI signal the MIDIBOX sends out (which is different than the typical MIDI protocol).
See the pictures below on how to configure the new jumper to work with the different modes. Pay close attention to the orientation of everything.
This is necessary to rewire our MIDI input circuit to work with the type of MIDI signal the MIDIBOX sends out (which is different than the typical MIDI protocol).
See the pictures below on how to configure the new jumper to work with the different modes. Pay close attention to the orientation of everything.
Typical MIDI Configuration for Swindler
Typical Expression Configuration for Swindler
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MIDI Configuration for MIDIBOX (Custom Jumper)
Option of "Storing" the custom jumper when not in use
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Little Backstory / Explanation:
MIDI over TRS was a bit of a "Wild West" of sorts for quite some time. Since a universal standard wasn't developed or released.
Many companies developed their own way to do things during this time that simply worked best for them. While some of these protocols are similar in nature, they all had slight differences in wiring and how they worked. I'm not going to go into the details here. We'll keep things light. But most of these company protocols omit the optical isolation called for in the traditional MIDI input circuit and wire the TRS jack (instead of DIN-5) directly to the computer chip in the pedal.
This brought about the advent of things like MIDIBOXs. MIDIBOXs provided a way to convert the old DIN-5 MIDI cable to multiple TRS MIDI outputs, and therefore multiple TRS MIDI devices at a time. They also typically provide the optical isolation from the traditional MIDI input circuit and configurable jumpers to work with the different proprietary wiring protocols that different companies had developed as mentioned above.
This was an acceptable solution for a while. Until....A few years ago the MIDI Association finally announced their standard for MIDI over TRS. It involved replacing DIN-5 jacks with TRS jacks with a standard wiring protocol AND still utilizing the old MIDI input circuit with optical isolation....
For Swindler, I started designing our products right when this standard was announced. So my products included the full fledged MIDI input circuit (with optical isolation) with TRS jacks to adhere to the new standard. However, I didn't realize how different the MIDIBOX setup was and that we would not be compatible for anyone invested in the old systems....
It's not ideal, but we were fortunate that a simple custom jumper on the configurable header we already had inside our pedals could be used to allow "backward compatibility" with any older MIDIBOX setups.
In any future Versions I may develop a better / easier way to make this all work together. But for now the additional jumper is a good enough "fix".
MIDI over TRS was a bit of a "Wild West" of sorts for quite some time. Since a universal standard wasn't developed or released.
Many companies developed their own way to do things during this time that simply worked best for them. While some of these protocols are similar in nature, they all had slight differences in wiring and how they worked. I'm not going to go into the details here. We'll keep things light. But most of these company protocols omit the optical isolation called for in the traditional MIDI input circuit and wire the TRS jack (instead of DIN-5) directly to the computer chip in the pedal.
This brought about the advent of things like MIDIBOXs. MIDIBOXs provided a way to convert the old DIN-5 MIDI cable to multiple TRS MIDI outputs, and therefore multiple TRS MIDI devices at a time. They also typically provide the optical isolation from the traditional MIDI input circuit and configurable jumpers to work with the different proprietary wiring protocols that different companies had developed as mentioned above.
This was an acceptable solution for a while. Until....A few years ago the MIDI Association finally announced their standard for MIDI over TRS. It involved replacing DIN-5 jacks with TRS jacks with a standard wiring protocol AND still utilizing the old MIDI input circuit with optical isolation....
For Swindler, I started designing our products right when this standard was announced. So my products included the full fledged MIDI input circuit (with optical isolation) with TRS jacks to adhere to the new standard. However, I didn't realize how different the MIDIBOX setup was and that we would not be compatible for anyone invested in the old systems....
It's not ideal, but we were fortunate that a simple custom jumper on the configurable header we already had inside our pedals could be used to allow "backward compatibility" with any older MIDIBOX setups.
In any future Versions I may develop a better / easier way to make this all work together. But for now the additional jumper is a good enough "fix".