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PSR Keyboards (11 Boards) => PSR-E Series => Topic started by: Nu2moro on March 27, 2018, 06:42:14 PM

Title: Ew400 as a midi controller
Post by: Nu2moro on March 27, 2018, 06:42:14 PM

Hello to all  :)
I have recently purchased the ew400 primarily as a controller in a daw setup on pc and iPad.  Are there any user guides available that explain the set up and limitations of ew400.

Many thanks

Title: Re: Ew400 as a midi controller
Post by: AnupamEnosh on March 27, 2018, 09:16:16 PM

Hi,
What sort of limitations are you pointing towards, does it relate to MIDI based operations, or something else ? Please explain. :)

Title: Re: Ew400 as a midi controller
Post by: SeaGtGruff on March 28, 2018, 01:47:13 AM

The PSR-EW400 doesn't have MIDI IN/OUT ports, so you'll need to connect using USB-MIDI, which will require using a USB host.

The most obvious shortcoming is the lack of many knobs, buttons, and sliders that you can use for MIDI control. There are the two Live Control knobs, but that's it.

You can't set the MIDI Send channels, so you'll need to set the MIDI Receive channels on the equipment or software that you're controlling, or use additional hardware or software to change the channel numbers of the messages.

You can't control whether specific types of MIDI messages will be sent or not, so you'll need to do any message filtering on the equipment or software that you're controlling, or use additional hardware or software to filter the messages.

Title: Re: Ew400 as a midi controller
Post by: Nu2moro on March 28, 2018, 07:04:53 AM

Thanks the replies  :)

Not being able modify the keyboard midi transmit channel is an unusual ommision.  That may prove difficult on the setup of the receiving device.

Title: Re: Ew400 as a midi controller
Post by: SeaGtGruff on March 28, 2018, 07:41:30 AM

You basically have two choices as to which channel to use-- channel 1 or channel 3. The other channels can also be transmitted, but each channel is used for a specific purpose:

Channel 1 -- Transmits the Main Voice; also transmits Song Channel 1.
Channel 2 -- Transmits the Dual Voice; also transmits Song Channel 2.
Channel 3 -- Transmits the Split Voice; also transmits Song Channel 3.
Channel 4 -- Transmits Song Channel 4.
Channel 5 -- Transmits Song Channel 5.
Channel 6 -- Transmits Song Channel 6.
Channel 7 -- Transmits Song Channel 7.
Channel 8 -- Transmits Song Channel 8.
Channel 9 -- Transmits the Style Rhythm 1 part; also transmits Song Channel 9.
Channel 10 -- Transmits the Style Rhythm 2 part; also transmits Song Channel 10.
Channel 11 -- Transmits the Style Bass part; also transmits Song Channel 11.
Channel 12 -- Transmits the Style Chord 1 part; also transmits Song Channel 12.
Channel 13 -- Transmits the Style Chord 2 part; also transmits Song Channel 13.
Channel 14 -- Transmits the Style Pad part; also transmits Song Channel 14.
Channel 15 -- Transmits the Style Phrase 1 part; also transmits Song Channel 15.
Channel 16 -- Transmits the Style Phrase 2 part; also transmits Song Channel 16.

You can control which parts will be transmitted:

Keyboard Out function -- Controls whether or not the three Keyboard parts (Main, Dual, and Split) will be transmitted.
Style Out function -- Controls whether or not the eight Style parts will be transmitted.
Song Out function -- Controls whether or not the 16 Song parts (channels) will be transmitted.

Note that you'll want to turn off the Local Control function if you want to use the PSR-EW400 as a keyboard controller.

So if you want to use channel 1, make sure Keyboard Out is turned on, and turn off the Split function so the Main Voice is used for the entire width of the keyboard.

Or, if you want to use channel 3, set the Split Point as high as it will go, and turn on the Split function so the Split Voice is used for the entire width of the keyboard.

Title: Re: Ew400 as a midi controller
Post by: Nu2moro on March 28, 2018, 04:31:16 PM

Useful information, thank you  :)