On November 1, 2009 10:47:44 am Jörn Nettingsmeier wrote: > hi everyone! > > > i'm playing with my shiny new BCF2K, and i'm going to use it some > distance from my machine, so i'm going to try a midi link instead of USB. > > what is the maximum length of midi chain that you have used without > problems? i read somewhere that no more than 15 meters are recommended, > which strikes me as pretty short even if it's unbalanced. > > > my idea is to abuse a cat5 cable as a triple midi loom - do you think > that could work? pinout would be as follows:
15 meters is a recommendation based on typical cables used in a simple system. Data corruption ensues somewhere after 15m, depending on cable quality, EMI, and so forth. I would imagine a CAT5 as having better shielding and IIRC runs for that are advised to somewhere up to 50m. Different frequency ranges though, so signal loss/degradation per meter may vary. Usually you need a buffer/booster box for any regular MIDI cable runs greater than 15m. You can also use professional microphone cables for MIDI with DIN plugs. That might get you a little better EMI rejection and hence a longer run also. A CAT5 cable should work, as long as the pairs of signal/grounds are really twisted together. Hum and crosstalk may be a factor otherwise. Raymond _______________________________________________ Linux-audio-dev mailing list [email protected] http://lists.linuxaudio.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-audio-dev
