I used EasyEDA to design a small board that takes in a number* of MIDI producing devices (Mac, PC, Atari ST, F256K2, keyboard controller, keytar, etc) and pairs exactly one of those to another device among a number* of MIDI consuming devices (sound canvas, MT-32, modules, another computer with MIDI in).
*I have a 2x2 board as well as a 3x3. The latter fits my needs almost exactly.
Doing this board is of course really easy for anyone with experience, but I went an extra step that I don't see many people do: analyze the cost, order a shipment and partner with an already existing online storefront that carries other doodads (for Mac, Apple 2, PC, etc) to simplify and accelerate getting those in the hands of people who'd need them.
If you're already an advanced MIDI gear user and/or a musician, chances are, you have MIDI thru boxes and/or rely on USB to carry the signals and you wouldn't need one of those.
If you're like me and you have a light amount of MIDI devices, mainly for vintage gaming and maybe some music composition dabbling, then these are much cheaper than THRU boxes. They just establish one signal path at a time, there's no doubling up of MIDI in signals into multiple THRUs, there's no matrix. I found that THRU ports on my MIDI devices was not a given, only exactly one device that I own has one, so daisy chaining is not always possible, nor desirable to keep devices powered on if the THRU is not passive.
Here's a quick promo video that shows the 1 minute no-talky elevator pitch of this project:
Get them at JCM-1.com here:
https://jcm-1.com/product-category/hardware/1 … t-fever-dreams/
*I have a 2x2 board as well as a 3x3. The latter fits my needs almost exactly.
Doing this board is of course really easy for anyone with experience, but I went an extra step that I don't see many people do: analyze the cost, order a shipment and partner with an already existing online storefront that carries other doodads (for Mac, Apple 2, PC, etc) to simplify and accelerate getting those in the hands of people who'd need them.
If you're already an advanced MIDI gear user and/or a musician, chances are, you have MIDI thru boxes and/or rely on USB to carry the signals and you wouldn't need one of those.
If you're like me and you have a light amount of MIDI devices, mainly for vintage gaming and maybe some music composition dabbling, then these are much cheaper than THRU boxes. They just establish one signal path at a time, there's no doubling up of MIDI in signals into multiple THRUs, there's no matrix. I found that THRU ports on my MIDI devices was not a given, only exactly one device that I own has one, so daisy chaining is not always possible, nor desirable to keep devices powered on if the THRU is not passive.
Here's a quick promo video that shows the 1 minute no-talky elevator pitch of this project:
Get them at JCM-1.com here:
https://jcm-1.com/product-category/hardware/1 … t-fever-dreams/
