Casio CTK-691 and Xmidi 1x1

Davve · Post by **Davve** » 07-24-07 5:31 pm

Hey there guys
I recently bought a Xmidi 1x1-cable for my Casio CTK-691 and now I'm trying to hook them up to the computer so I can start playing synthesia.
Problem is I'm not getting a connection, even though the Xmidi-cable's "power"-LED is glowing like there's not a care in the world neither the Midi-in nor Midi-out respond to anything I do. The "Data access"-light on the CTK-691 isn't lighting up either.
I'm new to this whole thing so after installing the drivers for the cable I don't know what else needs to be done.
Please help a computer-synthezizer-newbie.

Post by **Nicholas** » 07-24-07 8:43 pm

Hi Davve, I'm happy to hear you're interested in playing. Hopefully we can get you up and running.

I would check a few things right off the bat to start narrowing things down:

Does your computer like the new USB device? A good way to check if it's been installed correctly is in Synthesia. You should be able to scroll through the input and output device list and find it there. If you can't find something named similar to Xmidi in the list, it might be the driver.
Next, you mentioned that the data light wasn't doing anything on the adapter (presumably even while hitting keys on your keyboard). I'd check that the input and output cables from the adapter were plugged into the right ports. Sometimes they're labeled confusingly. The keyboard's output should go to the adapter's input. Try swapping the connections and check to see if the data light does anything. I just checked the CTK-691's manual and it doesn't look like you should have to do anything special to get it to output over the MIDI ports.

Let us know if you still can't get it working. Also, let me know if you're planning to use your keyboard for Synthesia's output. Judging from the manual, there might be some settings you have to change. Of course, if you're just going to use your computer's MIDI output, you don't have to worry about it.

Davve · Post by **Davve** » 07-25-07 9:10 am

Hey Nicholas
I tried switching the cables and lo and behold; it worked :p
Thanks for the help, now I just gotta start practicing, haven't gotten above C- a single time yet :S

Post by **Nicholas** » 07-25-07 12:37 pm

Hey, it's great to hear you got it working. You're right that the game is pretty hard. I had to start with songs very slow (in the 10%-20% range) because I'd never really played the keyboard before. I'm still not very good but I think that's because I've spent more time making the game than playing it.

The "Fast-forward and rewind" feature that is coming out in the next version helps quite a bit for working out difficult sections. You can try it out early by grabbing the development version of the game from the red box in the "Development Updates" section of this forum.

Keep us updated. I'd like to hear if you make any progress. And if you think of anything that would make it better, easier, or more fun, be sure to post in the "Feature Requests" section.

Nick