Ax-Edge MIDI In Issues

[ryken]

I've had the new Edge for a few weeks now, and I absolutely love it. It works amazingly on its own.

However, when I had my Ax-Synth, I was able to use my Yamaha DX-7 as a master midi controller. I'm having a few issues with doing this with the Edge:

1. When I use the pitch wheel on the DX-7, only Part 1 of any program actually pitch bends. Parts 2-4 don't bend at all, even though the MIDI RX page is set to recieve pitch bend on all parts.

2. Same issue with the modulation wheel, only Part 1 is modulated.

3. When I press a patch button on the DX-7, instead of changing through the list of programs on the Edge, every button seems to just choose an initialized program instead. Not very useful.

Is this an issue with using the DX-7 as a controller, or a settings issue / limitation of the Edge itself? I've already enabled the remote keyboard setting. None of these things were problems when controlling the AX-Synth.

[Tom Williams]

1. When I use the pitch wheel on the DX-7, only Part 1 of any program actually pitch bends. Parts 2-4 don't bend at all, even though the MIDI RX page is set to receive pitch bend on all parts.
2. Same issue with the modulation wheel, only Part 1 is modulated.
Is this an issue with using the DX-7 as a controller, or a settings issue / limitation of the Edge itself?

In a way, it's both.

From deep within the AX-Edge Parameter Guide, page 42:

Basic Ch (Basic Channel)

Specifies the MIDI channel assigned to each part. MIDI channels are assigned consecutively. For example, if Basic Ch = 1, part 1 uses MIDI channel 1, part 2 uses MIDI channel 2, part 3 uses MIDI channel 3, and part 4 uses MIDI channel 4.

In an alternative example, if Basic Ch = 5, part 1 uses MIDI channel 5, part 2 uses MIDI channel 6, part 3 uses MIDI channel 7, and part 4 uses MIDI channel 8.

In other words, each part is independently controlled by external sources. On the upside, that means you could presumably run two controllers on separate channels, and they could multitimbrally play two different parts within a particular setup -- separating out a piano and a pad, for example.

On the downside, a single controller on a single MIDI channel cannot play whole four-part patch. In particular, a classic DX-7 only transmits on channel 1, so only getting part 1 is sort of hardwired into that setup.

[ryken]

Ahh, thank you for pointing out that part of the guide, I must have skimmed over it!
While I definitely see the benefits and potentially awesome uses for contorlling all parts separately, it's unfortunate that it can't also be set to receive a single MIDI channel to control all four parts. I do have the E! upgrade on my DX-7 for enhanced MIDI capability, but I think you're right about it being limited to one channel at a time. I'll have to dig through the manual again.

On the upside, I did find that changing the Control Channel setting to 1 allows me to change programs from the DX-7, but only for banks 0-3. If I try to go to bank 4 from the DX-7, the Edge just loops back to bank 0, and so on.

[anotherscott]

You should be able to use a device like a MIDI Solutions Event Processor or an iPhone/iPad app between the two, set to take all the MIDI Channel 1 Output of the DX7 and echo it back out channels 1, 2, 3, and 4 simultaneously.