Just putting this out there / fishing for feasibility...
How about a new product or two?
I'm imagining a chassis with a single RJ45 jack and a male IEC power plug on one side, and a dozen DIN-5 (plus USB?) ports on the other. No fancy port manipulation software inside... just class compliant MIDI I/O served up over Bome Network Protocol.
A smaller 4-8 port version would be welcome too.
Right now, I'm so busy purchasing $400 USB/MIDI interfaces, powered USB hubs, and Network POE switches to support my bome-related habits... sweating all the while as I fret about ground loop issues.
It would be so much nicer to simply connect these imaginary boxes to a network switch and have ground-loop-isolated, easily-extendable, BOME-compatible DIN ports wherever I want them.
I'd even be willing to develop the hardware if BOME wanted to share the protocol...
Or is the plan to transition to rtp-MIDI, making this soon-to-be-obsolete?
Maybe this isn't public knowledge stuff, and if that's the case I respect the choice. But still worth putting out there, I think...
You probably know this but the iConnectivity has a network port and both USB and many DIN connectors (varied by model). The run rtp-MIDI though so you would need either a PC or Mac to convert from rtp-MIDI to Bome Network. of course you could use USB as a host and the iConnectivity will exposes all ports over USB to BomeBox and from there you could us BomeNetwork.
I think the decision not to use rtp-MIDI for BomeBox was due to performance but I’m not 100% sure.
Anything that exposes multiple devices to a USB host work work as well. There are many multiple DIN port solutions out there. that can act as class compliant group of USB devices.
You really don’t need to use individual USB conversion cables if you use one of these boxes.
Yes, I have an iConnectivity mio10 on order, and I plan to use it to expose the DIN through the BOME box. (Was going to go for an ESI M8Uex… unfortunately not rack-mountable.)
Also, running a PC or Mac on stage as part of my bands ‘backbone’ is a non-starter. I’ll never make the mistake of using a general-purpose, shared-resource operating system as the ‘heart’ of a performance system again! (Yes.. I’m jaded.)
However, none of this addresses the issue of distributing the midi network to the feet of each player in my band (as we discussed in a previous thread.)
For this, there is no ideal solution… the best option being a small, class-compliant 3×3 USB/MIDI interface, USB hub, and BOME box for each band member, which is both very expensive (regardless of any volume discount…) and is a clunky three-box solution connected with non-ruggedized USB cables.
One would think that a POE+ powered microcontroller would be able to support lots of local IO and serve it up via Ethernet to a BOME box system, without any need for embedded Linux or a UI… allowing for a more reasonable price point for each end point and no clutter whatsoever.
In any case, I’d love to see the cleverness of the existing BOME tech leveraged to solve this issue.
Maybe an Arduino would do the trick if it had a MIDI DIN shield and the right sketch. They are dirt cheap but the programming would probably be the most expensive to develop but they are indeed meant to be used for dedicated purposes for the sketch that is loaded.
I am currently working with MidiKlik4x4 by TheKikGen on GitHub. 3×3 midi plus slave USB midi integration via USB host uplink. Uses an STM23 “Blue Pill” for $2 each. Once I get my head wrapped around it I could experiment with adding an Ethernet / POE shield, but I would need Florian’s blessing to incorporate his protocol.
Random unsolicited .02 inappropriately posted on your thread because I have no sense of decorum or appropriate human interaction. (heh)
I’ve always fantasized about a Bome MIDI Controller that has a bunch of buttons, some knobs, a heart of a BomeBox, USB HUB and multiple DIN MIDI In/Outs.
Get this: the version of MTPro is streamlined to work within the confines of the device, so that things like LED feedback on its own surface is as easy to set up as drop down boxes.
Everytime I come back to this, I remind myself: many people use MTPro and the Box for so many applications, the least of which is how I apply them. So there\’d be like 5 people in the world (maybe) who\’d groove on it anyway (myself, two people who think it\’d work for them but it ends up not, one person who had no idea what it was, and one gearslut who will sit on it for 5 years and then sell it on Reverb)
That being said, my last 3-4 hardware variations on my rig include:
some sort of button/knob box (MIDI controller)
Bome Box
USB Hub
MIDI Splitter/Thru
MIDI Merger
I also fantasize about at least picking up some extra of those devices, cannabilising the important bits, and building them into a box. Then I start thinking I’d need to include the buttons/knobs, which makes me look at Arduino, which means if I’m going to learn to code an Arduino then I’m going to need a LOT more anti-anxiety medication.
Then I just fall into a gibbering heap, have a few nights of nightmares, get really baked, and go back to what I’m doing.
But seriously:
BomeBox + USB Hub + 4 DIN MIDI In + 4 DIN MIDI Out all in one unit would be dreamy.
Add two 4×4 button matrices and maybe some Encoders and I’d be set.
Make the buttons/knobs interchangeable or at least have different layouts/combinatoins available and that’d be ultra delicious
Lol. Your MIDI dream/despair cycle sounds a lot like mine. I think we have that in common with most all of the MIDI control world, my friend.
I’m sure Florian will hook us up in good time. It’s a natural progression to incorporate more physical ports, and eventually relays/encoders, etc.
In the meantime, we can keep lurking on each other’s threads to commiserate. (Yes, I’m equally guilty of lurking on YOURS.)
Wanted to summarize a conversation I had offline with Bome staff here…
Basically, any device such as the one I requested would need to incorporate a full BOME box within its parameters. The deciding factor in this is the need for such a device to act as a USB host. While USB slave devices are very simple to develop these days, USB host devices generally rely upon an embedded operating system (which comes with USB host functions out-of-the-box, so to speak.) Running an embedded OS means including a CPU… then making sure the bundled or assembled hardware can support real-time networking for music performance purposes… and pretty soon you’ve recreated………. the Bome Box.
So the answer to my own question is this:
Keep letting Bome know this is important to you… because any such solution would be built into/onto the product as it currently exists, and not a 3rd-party peripheral of any kind.