I was looking to use my Rockband 3(Xbox) keyboard as a MIDI controller. After looking at more expensive solutions, I came across this. Finally got it yesterday and plugged into keyboard then into PC. PC recognized the controller without a hitch. Loaded up FL studio 9 and scanned MIDI devices, selected the keyboard and away I went. It worked great so far and could not be any happier. I bought 3 of these in case I wanted to use it for any other devices.
My system is an older X2 AMD, and running on Win Vista 64. USB MIDI Cable Converter PC to Music Keyboard
Two things give this a five star rating: ease of use and the low price
the only downside is that the cable isn't long enough - I live in very cramped conditions but it would be nice to have more separation at times, though this can be done with an USB extension cable
Having read many of the reviews of this little midi interface I decided to buy one. I was a bit worried about the product working with my Windows 7 X64 because of conflicting reports about 64 bit systems. To cut to the point . . . I plugged it into an old Casio keyboard and into my laptop's USB and my computer found drivers that worked instantly with my midi music software.
Remember that the 'MIDI out' plug on the product mates with the 'MIDI in' on the Keyboard and the
'MIDI in' plug mates with the MIDI out socket on the Keyboard.
It makes sense that the output of one is the input to the other and vice versa.
I bought this to play around with a cheap keyboard and some music software. It worked fine for me, though I am writing this review after 1 use, so longevity has not been considered.
Equipment and software:
- Gateway desktop with Intel Core 2 Quad processor
- Vista 64 bit OS
- Guitar Pro 6 music notation software
- Casio CTK-496 cheapo toy keyboard (walmart)
It worked great, and that's good enough for me because it was really pretty cheap to buy.
I've just used it once for a few minutes but it installed easy and worked as expected so other than ongoing durability, what more could I ask for.
The package included the important instructions:
- Plug the cable marked "IN" to the MIDI OUT socket on the keyboard
- Plug the cable marked "OUT" to the MIDI IN socket of the keyboard
(and a few other instructions about ongoing use)
While that's perhaps not intuitively obvious to everyone, its not unusual. Ive seen the same setup on some audio receivers and amplifiers in the past, where In's and out's seem backwards.
Connected it, fired up the GuitarPro6 software, selected a piano score, turned on midi capture from the menu, and hit record. Started playing notes and capturing the music to the score. Wala...a really cheap and easy way to write out standard notation, both treble and bass clef. Much faster than entering it in by hand. An 88-key midi piano would be helpful as this 61-key toy I'm using doesn't have full range. A midi guitar would be nice to try over this interface, but I don't own one. Yet. :)
If you want to try midi but are a little concerned about investing a lot of money to try it out, this is a good route to see what you can do. The Casio keyboard and the guitar pro software were each fairly inexpensive. There are probably other notation packages that would work that are cheaper. Google "music notation software" for options...there are $10 options and maybe free options you could sample for a while.
I used this device to connect a music keyboard to my Mac. All I had to do was plug the cables in, and the computer could talk MIDI with the keyboard (no drivers to install, no rebooting). I've used it a few times, works very good so far. - Interface - Midi Keyboard - Midi To Usb - Cable'
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