TRS midi cable on both ends?

Striso
1

This could be a generic question but my use case is from the Striso, that uses TRS Midi out type A to a synth that uses TRS Midi a and b.

Is there a cable that sends midi with TRS on both ends? I haven’t been able to find them anywhere - or don’t know how to search :man_shrugging:t2:

2

a ‘normal’ 3.5mm stereo (trs) male-male stereo cable will work fine.
e.g. amazon link

assuming you want (e.g. ) trs-a to trs a, or trs b to trs b.

but, I could well be misunderstanding your question :slight_smile:

if you are wanting something that converts from midi trs a to trs b (or vice versa)

then something like :

or something like :

there may be other options, just search trs-a to trs-b

you can also DIY very easily ,

a) grab a stereo trs cable (as per first comment), cut it, and switch the left/right channel wires.
its a bit dependent on cable - but often the white wire is ground, so you switch the other two.
(best way to test which wire is which is using audio as you can hear when you cut left/right wire :))

I like this as you end up with a plain cable.

b) grab a TRS male to female
on the female connector, desolder left / right pins and switch.
this is easy, as ground is easy to spot.

this is what the xox cable is above.
advantage you can use plain trs male male cable, so can have various lengths.

1 Like
3

Thanks for the detailed answer :pray:

Yes, a normal stereo cable is what I thought would work. I did use one some years ago to send midi from a org seq-1 to an 0-Coast.

But I couldn’t make it to work with the Striso and a Plinky synth.

The striso sends midi TRS type A while the Plinky receives both (A and B - sends only type A)

An adapter shouldn’t be necessary, I think. But I have to do more testing.

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4

yeah, as you say striso is trs-a and plinky accepts trs-a, so should just work ™

perhaps as the plinky sends on trs-a , should could use it to send out and back in as a test.
try striso with something else thats trs-a to check its midi output is configured correctly?!

I dont have a Striso/Plinky, but I use standard stereo cables a lot for trs midi.
so doubt cables the issue.

good luck, sounds like a fun combo to play with.

5

I agree, it should just work :slight_smile:

One thing that can be an issue is the jack autodetection on the Striso. It tries to figure out from the resistance between the different contacts if a pedal or midi device is connected, but the plinky might not use standard midi receive circuitry. Since it can receive both type a and b that sounds quite logical.

So you have to set the mini-jack explicitly to midi instead of auto. You can do this in the configuration editor in a preset, with the jack2 setting.

In the latest firmware v2.2.2 a preset can also be selected to be loaded at start so you don’t have to load the preset yourself every time.

6

Yes, it just works. The cable I used in the first place was to big for the housing the plinky comes in. A smaller cable fits perfectly and transmits midi without problem.

The Plinky responds very well to poly-aftertouch but only in normal midi mode. Pity it’s not MPE.

It is definitely a good combo. Plinky can be played in a more traditional faster way. I am waiting for a bigger rack to place the plinky in my eurorack setup together with the expander. The striso can make a good controller.

Now, one solved problem came with new unsolved ones @pierstitus - this is about the configurator editor so I’ll post my question in the appropriate thread.

Thanks both for the help.

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7

yeah, I always like the look of plinky, but honestly, the interface put me off…
It just look very fiddly, with small icons…
that said, Im sure once you know the interface / icons, its quite intuitive and hands off… and in fairness, but better than tiny screens we see to frequently on these kind of instruments.

anyway, have fun :slight_smile:

1 Like