If you set it to the maximum (127), there is an audible delay. However, you just have to slightly increase it over the default value (26) to get mGB running stable. I think it was GB Pocket where it also worked fine at the default rate.
290 Feb 22, 2012 7:51 pm
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
e.s.c. wrote:
I think the goal was more for flexibility to work around devices with permanently set MIDI channels or for people like me who already have gear using channels
I think the cleaner and better solution would be to fix this within mGB (or whatever software is used on the Game Boy end). If mGB is misinterpreting data, that's a bug that can be fixed.
akira^8GB wrote:
Also, sorry about me repeating things, but I think this is imprtant: I have noticed the Game Boy skipping certain notes, specially when they are short, while using NLMIDI and mGB. Have you noticed this, Oliver?
Yes, I have noticed that on certain Game Boy models. By default, the adaptor forwards data at approximately MIDI speed (3125 bytes/second), which seems to be slightly too fast for mGB. Since such gaps do not appear with real MIDI / Arduinoboy, I may either have miscalculated the rate or Arduinoboy has a slower rate. However, there is a throttling parameter in the adaptor firmware, and when slightly slowed down, mGB works fine. The throttling can be set permanently with a special MIDI command. The current version of the nlmidi utility does not support it, but I'll add that with the next update.
291 Feb 22, 2012 3:40 pm
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Thanks for the clarification. But if the goal is to have multiple Game Boys on the same link cable, how can this be achieved within Arduinoboy?
292 Feb 22, 2012 2:20 pm
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
The idea is to have multiple Game Boys, running multiple instances of mGB and controlling them with different MIDI channels over the same cable, right? How else could this be achieved than by configuring each mGB to listen to a range of MIDI channels? And wasn't it nitro2k01 who added this patch to mGB (can't find the coresponding post here)? AFAIK, Arduinoboy code is not involved, hence it should work with the nanoloop adaptor, too.
293 Feb 22, 2012 11:10 am
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
akira^8GB wrote:
I already have a feature request (and my package has not arrived yet
)
Trash80 made a Max/MSP patch to set which MIDI channels one can use with mGB. This software works with Arduinoboy.
Can we have similar functionality for this adapter? The default channel numbers used are a little bit inconvenient for me.
Isn't that a function of mGB? The adaptor and also Arduinoboy forward the complete MIDI stream and mGB picks the apropriate channels. You can configure one mGB to use channels 1-4 and the other, running on a different Game Boy, to use channels 5-8. Both are connected to the same adaptor via a split cable. This should work with up to 4 Game Boys, using all 16 MIDI channels.
294 Feb 18, 2012 11:05 am
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Yes, I'm talking about MIDI sync only. In sync mode (can be set with the PC utility), the adaptor only processes start / stop and only sends data for clock sinals. For the "dumb" sync modes of LSDj and nanoloop.
I know there are other modes in LSDj that expect special pre-processed data from the MIDI adaptor (=Arduinoboy). But as you suggested, except for the "legacy" sync mode, the adaptor should be the "dumb" part and just forward MIDI (in its default MIDI mode) while the Various Game Boy programs can decide what to do with it (including full sync with song position etc). It should be possible to do the MIDI processing within LSDj. too.
295 Feb 17, 2012 8:20 pm
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
It will take a few days until the first orders arrive amd someone can test it with LSDj.
However, the LSDj sync scheme is really simple and similar to nanoloop's, I can't think of anything going wrong here. In sync mode, the adaptor sends a byte to the Game Boy for each received MIDI clock. For nanoloop sync, this byte is toggled on and off (0x00, 0xff). From what I understand, mostly by looking at the Arduinoboy code, LSDj just reads the serial clock, not the data and hence interprets *any* incoming byte (8 serial clock ticks) as a MIDI clock signal. Since the adaptor sends only sync signals in sync mode and handles start / stop (this is where nanoloop and LSDj work the same "dumb" way I think), it should work.
296 Feb 17, 2012 7:57 pm
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
It should work with LSDj. I haven't tried it but included the sync code.
297 Feb 17, 2012 12:00 pm
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
herr_prof wrote:
So currently means that this is something that may happen in the future?
Yes. Trash80 was so kind to provide me with the source and when I have the time to, I'll try to add nanoloop save capabilities.
298 Feb 16, 2012 4:03 pm
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
The upper 32k are empty.
299 Feb 16, 2012 1:53 pm
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
The shop sometimes doesn't work in Chrome due to it's 1999-style frame-based design. Emptying the cache can help.
The price is 7 euro incl. shipping and excl. VAT (EU only).
300 Feb 16, 2012 12:54 pm
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Yes, you can use any cart. mGB currently can't save on nanoloop one carts, so a flashcart would be the better solution.
301 Feb 16, 2012 11:05 am
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Long ago, I made a prototype of a MIDI-sync device that would connect a Game Boy with a (real, non-USB) MIDI cable and a standard link cable. It synced fine with my RY-8 drumcomputer. However, when I made a few more of these, I found that some didn't work stable, probably because it was using the PIC's internal oscillator as UART clock source. When I have the time to, I'll work on that device again.
302 Feb 16, 2012 10:21 am
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Timbob wrote:
Is there a way to use this midi adapter to sync it with a drum computer or the likes? Without a pc and such.
No, it's a USB client and requires a USB host. I guess there are devices that provide USB-MIDI host functionality to connect multiple clients. But that's just a guess, I don't know.
303 Feb 16, 2012 8:46 am
Re: MIDI-USB adaptor (234 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Krubbz wrote:
So does that mean that the USB adapter send out originally is not the same as the one used for MIDI?
They are the same, just with a different firmware. I'm sorry I couldn't squeeeze a bootloader in there, so they can not be updated via USB. You need a PIC programmer to change the firmware. If you send me your adaptor, I'll update it for free.
My original plan was to offer one adaptor for data and one for MIDI functions later. But then nitro2k01 pointed me to the fact that of course MIDI can also be used for data, and now the data-only version is obsolete.
304 Feb 15, 2012 11:22 pm
Re: Nanoloop 1.6 announced (209 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Oh, I didn't see this post when I opened a new thread about the MIDi device.