A question for those of you who have an iConnectivity mioXL. I want to record, for example, a filter sweep in Ableton live using Electra. Then when I play the song in Ableton, I want the Electra filter sweep parameter to be updated. Two way communication. I’m sure Electra can handle it, but how do I set up routing in mioXL? I’ve always had a bit of a hard time understanding routing in mioXL. A description with simple pictures would be great.
1 Like
Although the same rules apply, there is a slight difference depending on whether your E1 is connected to the mioXL via USB or MIDI IO DIN. I will describe the USB connection here, as it requires an extra configuration step of assigning the USB ports. For the MIDI IO DIN connection, you can simply skip that step.
- Make sure E1 is connected to MioXL via one of Mio’s USB host ports. Note, not all MioXL ports deliver enough current to power E1. I recommend reducing the brightness on E1, or using a powered USB hub, or trying a different physical port on MioXL…
- Open Auracle and go to the USB Host Reservation. There, select the HST ports you want to use, rename them as you wish, and use the dropdown lists to assign Electra’s ports from the list of all available USB devices connected to the mioXL:
eg .in the example above, I used the last two HST ports and named them ‘Electra Port 1’ and ‘Electra CTRL’. And then assigned them to Electra’s ports as follows: Electra Port 1 → Port 1 and Electra CTRL → Port 3. - In Auracle main menu, go to MIDI Routing. There, you need to do two things: select and rename two available ports. I usually keep the names of MIDI devices consistent across the mioXL interfaces, so I rename two of the USB DAW ports to ‘Electra Port 1’ and ‘Electra CTRL’.
The second step is to define the flow of MIDI data between sources and destinations. What you need is:
- USB Host Electra Port 1 -> USB DAW Electra Port 1
- USB Host Electra CTRL -> USB DAW Electra CTRL
- USB DAW Electra Port 1 -> USB Host Electra Port 1
- USB DAW Electra CTRL -> USB Host Electra CTRL
This will give you the communication in both directions. You can now send and receive MIDI messages to and from Electra via the ‘Electra Port 1’ MIDI port on your computer, eg. in Ableton.
Below is a screenshot from MIDI Monitor
or you can use Electra CTRL port in the Preset editor:
Note: When you rename any of the USB DAW ports on the mioXL and want these new names to appear on your computer, you’ll need to refresh the MIDI device list. On macOS, open the Audio MIDI Setup :: MIDI Studio application, power off the mioXL, and remove it from MIDI Studio. This will force the system to reload the updated port names once the mioXL is powered back on.
I’m not sure how this works on Windows. It might update the port names automatically…
3 Likes
Nope, on windows you need to reboot the operating system
1 Like
Thank you so much Martin. Everything becomes so much easier with pictures or videos.
1 Like
did you manage to get it working?
I will test it later today.
Skickat från min iPhone
I have added a step-by-step tutorial to the documentation. It provides more details and includes information about routing synthesizer parameter changes between Electra, the DAW, and the synthesizers:
3 Likes
You write that… “Make sure E1 is connected to MioXL via one of Mio’s USB host ports. Note, not all MioXL ports deliver enough current to power E1. I recommend reducing the brightness on E1, or using a powered USB hub, or trying a different physical port on MioXL…”
You also write that not all ports are capable of powering Electra. Are there any ports on the MioXL that are designed to power devices like for example Electra?
Right now I have Electra connected to a powered USB hub which is in turn connected to my Mac mini but for natural reasons Electra does not appear in MioXL.
I searched with the help of Grok (I love Grok) This is the answer I got. I suppose that this is what you mean?
Use a Powered USB Hub: Connecting the Electra One to a powered USB hub attached to one of the mioXL’s USB host ports can ensure sufficient power. A powered hub supplies its own current, bypassing the mioXL’s power limitations. This is particularly useful if you’re connecting multiple USB-MIDI devices or if the E1’s power draw exceeds 500 mA.
I already have a powered USB hub connected to my Mac mini but I guess I can’t connect Electra to that hub because it’s already connected to the computer? Or can I connect Electra to the hub and then to MioXL?
Or is it easier to connect Electra to MioXL with DIN MIDI cables?
Does this mean that as soon as you want to connect something via USB MIDI to the MioXL that draws too much power, you can put a powered USB hub between what you want to connect and the MioXL? I’ll give you an example. Behringer Pro VS mini. I have no idea how much power it draws, but let’s pretend it draws too much power. You can choose DIN MIDI, but then it only has MIDI in. Or USB MIDI, so it has both MIDI in and MIDI out. If I choose DIN MIDI, I can’t request sysex because it can’t send the dump back. However, it can do that if you choose USB MIDI. I first connected my VS mini to a USB adapter. The same as you use to charge a mobile phone and it works great. But then I realized that I wanted both MIDI in and MIDI out. Then I connected it directly to the computer because I didn’t know you could connect it to the MioXL and get power that way. If I understand it correctly, I can connect a powered USB hub between the Pro VS mini and the MioXL and then I have all the advantages? Both MIDI in and out and the ability to connect it to the MioXL to be able to send MIDI however I want.
You can connect a powered USB hub to any of the MioXL’s USB host ports. The MioXL fully supports USB hubs, meaning any MIDI USB device connected to the hub, such as the Electra One or Pro VS, will be recognized by the MioXL.
When connected this way, your Electra One or Pro VS will no longer appear directly on your computer as a USB device since they are not connected to your Mac mini any more. Instead, you can access it through the MioXL by configuring routing and naming ports appropriately. Once this is done, the device will be available to your computer via the MioXL DAW ports. For details see the tutorial referenced above.
Alternatively, if you choose to connect Electra One directly to a MioXL USB host port (without a hub). If the Electra is set to a high LCD backlight brightness, most of the MioXL’s USB host ports may not provide enough power, causing the controller to spontaneously reboot after startup (when its CPU becomes busy).
However, the left-most USB host port on the MioXL panel appears to supply sufficient power for stable operation, even with higher brightness settings:
Or you can reduce the Electra One’s backlight brightness to around 50%. At this level, the power draw is significantly reduced, and any USB host port on the MioXL should be able to power it reliably.
1 Like
Thanks Martin. I tried connecting the Electra to the left port of MioXL yesterday and it works. If that turns out to be a problem I’ll just have to buy a powered USB hub.
On one occasion when I rebooted the MioXL, the screen on the Electra started flashing for a while. I wonder if it’s because the power is at the limit of what the MioXL can handle.
I’m currently running your tutorial “How to Use Electra One with iConnectivity routers”. Very interesting. The pictures of how to do it in MioXL make everything so much easier. A big thumbs up to you for that.
When I am testing Routing with mioXL, do I have to have Ableton Live running and the correct synth selected to test the routing? Can someone please check if my routing is correct? I can not get it to work. I have followed this tutorial.
I don’t think so. I successfully got all my hardware synths communicating with the E1 and vice versa following the steps in the tutorial. The only hiccup was that port 1 could not connect in the USB host reservation for some reason, so I used port 2. Anyway, port 2 worked fine.
1 Like
Thanks for the reply. Ok I’ll try port 2 instead and see if that works.
Update: No success.
Yes. I’m sure the port 1 issue was specific to my setup. I’m not sure why it’s not working for you. At first glance your screenshots look like you have it configured correctly. I will take a second look.
1 Like
On second look the only difference I can see between our setups (other than me using Electra port 2) is that in the first steps of the setup Electra port 1 (US Host) is routed to Electra port 1 (USB DAW). But when you set up the Minilouge XD routing you removed the routing from Electra port 1 (USB Host) to Electra port 1 (USB DAW). I’m not sure if that is important but you might try putting that back in. I see that Martin’s tutorial also removed that routing when setting up the XT Wave so it probably isn’t important.
1 Like
Now it finally works. The big mistake was that I sent messages from Electra on the wrong MIDI channel. All other settings were correct 
If I understand it correctly, Ableton (or other DAW) must be running for everything to work. If no DAW is running, the parameters on Electra update when you change a parameter on the synth.
But when you change a parameter on Electra, it doesn’t reach the synth because it’s your DAW that sends the signal there.
Am I understanding this correctly Martin?
Good to hear you have it working. FYI, I don’t have any DAW open and the Electra talks fine with my synths and other midi hardware with this setup. I can change a parameter on the Electra and it changes on the synth immediately, and vice versa.
1 Like
You have the option using presets on the Mio. One could be with routing going thru the daw, the other without daw. Iirc @NewIgnis does this