Bome Box ethernet

[nottooloud]

Will a laptop connected to the ethernet see the Bome Box MIDI ports, either DIN or USB? Some driver needed?

Will two Bome Boxes be able to see each other's various ports over ethernet? USB controller at one end becomes processed DIN at the other?

I'm trying to arrange for a MIDI controller at the mix position to operate my MIDI or OSC controlled mixer onstage. I can do it all on tablets with wifi, but I want real faders so I can watch the stage, not my screen. I can put a laptop or a Mac Mini or something at either or both ends. I'd prefer a dedicated but easily reprogrammable solution.

Do you have even a vague idea of what the cost will be?

[florian]

Hi Nottoloud,

thanks for the many questions

Here are some details:

• For every BomeBox, you have complete control of the MIDI routing (merging/duplicating/filtering/mapping) of
  • the two 5-pin DIN ports
  • all MIDI devices plugged via USB (possibly using a hub)
  • all Bome network MIDI ports (Ethernet and WiFi)
• for setting up MIDI routing, you can use
  • the BomeBox' web config (routing only), or
  • a MIDI Translator (MT) project file in which you can use MT's MIDI Router, and all other MT features
• Bome network MIDI uses our own technology for security, very simple connection setup, and ultra low latency
• you can create as many network MIDI ports as you like by connecting to another BomeBox or to a desktop computer
• we're still debating for the best way to enable Bome network MIDI on desktops. Most likely, a sort of a driver.
• in any case, we don't plan to give direct network access to the other MIDI ports of a BomeBox. Instead, every network connection is set up as an own MIDI in/out pair which you need to "wire" using the routing setup.

I believe that one or two connected BomeBoxes will nicely do the trick for you. Whatever you set up in the box will stay, so just plug in power and it'll run your setup. You can also save the current setup and thus easily re-create a particular config, or clone boxes.Regarding the price, here is a tiny vague idea: 200. Up to you to guess the currency

Anyway, hope that answers your questions!
Florian

PS: disclaimer, this is what we're currently implementing -- but don't sue me if any details will turn out differently!

[nottooloud]

MT has been my problem-solver for many years. I'm looking forward to what you come up with. iConnectMIDI is close, but not smart enough.

What is the reason for not using rtp MIDI? AVB, the new open standard that MOTU is using, runs it as well. You can plug an AVB device into the ethernet port on any current Mac and have 128 channels of audio and whatever MIDI transport you want without drivers or licensing fees.

I vote for Yen.

[florian]

Thanks.
Regarding RTP-MIDI, I've considered it already years ago but I opted for an own implementation for these reasons:

• security (e.g. protect connection setup with a password)
• simple setup/auto discovery
• connection setup without requiring a UI (with buttons on the boxes)
• lower overhead (possibly lower latency)
• full transparent transmission of any MIDI message (no deep inspection)
• no dependency on Apple's Bonjour
• last, but not least: my network protocol is already implemented (and used and well tested by many OEM customers of mine)

This doesn't mean I will never add RTP-MIDI to MT or the BomeBox, it's just not high priority. Higher on that list is e.g. OSC...
And btw, Bome network MIDI (code named "QBMNP") works great with AVB, too

Florian

PS: a hint: Japanese customers will have to map their currency (they're allowed to do that with MT's rules, though)

[florian]

here you can check out our NAMM demos of the BomeBox:
http://www.bome.com/products/bomebox/videos

[nottooloud]

loved the Pong game.

[wilcofan]

Hi Florian,

So with this bomebox connected to a computer I can route the physical MIDI ports to the bomes virtuals.

Over WIFI or physically with ethernet.

Have you measured the jitter of the signal through your system? I see a possible use for this as a replacement for USB input, if it's jitter was substaintially less.

Catch my drift?

[florian]

Hi wilcofan,
we have the equipment to do precise latency/jitter measurements. Preliminary testing was very promising, but we'll do a series of real tests soon.
Thanks,
Florian