MIDI tips and tricks for the QC

I believe so. I’m going midi out from the controller to midi in on the QC

I’ve been traveling for work all this week. I’ve played with bi-directional midi and on a small scale it can work. If you want it on every preset it can be tedious. I can try to get some content together for an example of how to do this for morningstar controllers

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If you can configure counters on the midi controller you can do this. But it gets messy quickly

That would be awesome!

Not sure where else to put this in the Forum…guess this as good a place as any (since it appears no one at Neural seems to care about the “Midi” topic).
I was poking around the web today and saw an old Fractal AX8 for sale…$650. “Still a pretty good price” I thought for an older device. Then I remembered I was a bit disappointed when I owned an AX8 because it didn’t have much in the way of midi control. I dug a little deeper and low and behold it DOES…it can send 1 midi PC command per scene. Interesting, I thought…so I grabbed the AX8 manual and imagine my frustration when I paged down through the “Midi” section and there, printed in beautiful black and white were ALL the midi CC numbers to control ALL of the effects blocks! Hmmm the QC is only 15+ years late! (and counting!) Nice!

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Yes, it is insane that we cannot do something so simple at this point.

Me: „I set up the QC to send MIDI to another pedal. That worked.
Then set it up to receive MIDI and pass it on to the next pedal. That worked as well after activating MIDI THRU. But now the QC doesn’t send MIDI anymore. Turning MIDI THRU off it again sends MIDI.
I am running the latest firmware.
Any thoughts on why that is and how to solve it?“

NDSP: „Unfortunately what you mention is currently expected behaviour of the MIDI Thru / OUT. The devs are aware that better implementation of this feature requires prompt attention, and it is on the roadmap to be resolved ASAP.“

Me: „If it is known behavior, why isn’t it mentioned in the manual?
What does ASAP mean? The QC has been on the market for 4 years now.“

NDSP: „Not sure what you wanted us to comment on from your previous message.
It really isn’t feasible to include every detail about the Quad Cortex in the manual due to space and clarity considerations. Our goal is to cover the most essential information that helps users get started and operate the unit effectively.
ASAP means, as soon as there is bandwidth for the developers to work on expanded MIDI implementation in Quad Cortex, then features, or lack thereof like the one you mention will be assessed.“

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Yeah, this doesn’t this surprise me. It’s always a “bandwidth” issue. I don’t understand why they continually push anything regarding midi off into the abyss.

HI all, Literally just ran into the same issue, using a set up where I need MIDI through a Morningstar as well as the QC sending messages on preset load. No dice, Morningstar will change presets on the pedals downstream of the QC only when MIDI is set to thru and the QC won’t send MIDI on bank change. If set thru is off, MIDI is sent on bank change downstream but no way to use the Morningstar. Ah well, hopefully the QC guys are on it.

Quick hack for this is to use a MIDI interface, like the CME H4MIDI, as you can configure this as in and out to quad cortex while also sending the in signal further down the chain, then using the software make sure that the MIDI out of the QC does not route to the MIDI in of the QC

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/WIDIH4--cme-h4midi-wc-advanced-midi-interface?mrkgadid=&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=&mrkgbflag=&mrkgcat=&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=2421636652485&lid=92700082000222670&ds_s_kwgid=58700008756027651&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=2421636652485&product_id=WIDIH4&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9007813&creative=710019515924&targetid=pla-2421636652485&campaignid=21587258063&awsearchcpc=1&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21587258063&gbraid=0AAAAAD_RQYnIKo1tccEBG12GggP-BcPyY&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuoDw8vmmkwMVw01HAR2WSwPTEAQYASABEgKb0fD_BwE

Yeah, for some strange, undisclosed reason Neural has made SURE that you can’t use external controllers.

I don’t think this is entirely fair, and if it’s the first thing someone sees when looking for MIDI control over a QC it will lead them the wrong direction.

You can absolutely use external controllers with the QC, the situations described above lead to issues because of how everything is being implemented (both in the physical layout of things, and how MIDI THRU works on the QC). It seems like things are wired up with the QC right after the External controller?

Something that could be tested - Assuming something like a morningstar MC6/8 (anything with omniports) you can configure one of those as a MIDI port, connect all non-QC devices to it, then using the DIN connections wire up MIDI IN/OUT from the Morningstar controller to the QC, and turn off MIDI THRU on the QC. Now the Morningstar controller can send to all devices, and when the QC sends output, the morningstar controller will pass it down the omniport - since that’s a daisy-chain, and not a loop, it’ll flow from the QC → MCx → pedals and end. Assuming everything on it’s own channel, if it somehow ends up going back to the QC it’ll be ignored, and since THRU isn’t in, it won’t get passed back trough the MIDI OUT (and won’t create a loop), and now you can control “everything” from either the MCx OR the QC. Without requiring another device.

If your MIDI controller doesn’t have additional MIDI out ports, then yes, something like the H4MIDI is a great option. Which… STILL allows the QC to be “used with external controllers”.

I understand your statement was meant to imply “in exactly the way I want it to”, but again, someone just glancing over the thread might just give up after reading that, and I feel like there are many viable ways to do what’s being asked here that make a blanket statement like that entirely untrue in the broader context. No shade intended, just want people to find good answers, or at least have food for thought if they see this thread in the future.

And lastly, believe me, no one has gone to Neural DIRECTLY, to people inside, and has asked for a better MIDI implementation than me. IYKYK So this isn’t about “excuses” or whatever people like to throw around, I am the OG MIDI on the QC guy :smiley: no one wants it fixed more than me, but in the meantime I’d rather spend time spreading useful information, solutions, workarounds, than just saying “it’s intentionally broken, you can’t do it” - you almost always CAN, it won’t always be fun, or cheap, but answers exist. Let’s share those.

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Hey Rex, you’re right it may be a setup issue. I’m a big believer in “IF it can be done…the Morningstar can do it”. My question is “why, at the price-point of the QC are we having to “hack” or buy additional gear to make things work?” I’m an OG about Midi as well…the whole POINT of Midi is to get these devices to work together! YES the QC CAN work with external controllers but you don’t gain anything beyond what’s available ON the QC itself so…why bother? What’s frustrating is NDSP has not only omitted individual block control they’ve purposefully locked out the ability to add functions that would make the unit more flexible from an external control perspective.

Ok, I’ll shut it now and go back to playing guitar. Sorry for the rant…it’s just my 4-years of waiting getting the better of me.

Hi there, just wanted to clarify, I was not bashing the QC, merely trying to help solve a problem I walked into unaware of the history. My apologies if I caused any undue worries. As you say I could use the MC6 on a different port, unfortunately on the MC6 (mk2) both of my omniports are being used for other things, an expression pedal and an Aux switch so I can home the MC6 etc without losing a slot on each preset screen. So I thought the H4 was a neat, reliable work around and hoped my posting would help people with a similar issue, so I was trying to spread useful information, solutions and workarounds. Just wanted to clarify that in light of the discussions. :grinning_face: :smiling_face_with_sunglasses: :folded_hands:

Nothing to worry about, it’s a great suggestion, and the only option if you’re already using the omniports and have specific requirements to send MIDI from the MC and the QC both. No beef, no issues :smiley:

I agree that the lack flexibility is annoying. My main reason for going external is that I’d rather accidentally step wrongly on a $150 to $400 controller than a $1700 QC. Plus you can use it to control other devices, although the QC should ideally be the be-all-end-all.