Overview

Finding out why your MIDI device isn't responding to your MIDI controller can be frustrating. Hopefully this checklist helps you identify the issue.

On the MIDI device

1. Check MIDI Channel
   Ensure that the MIDI device that you are controlling is the same as the MIDI message you are sending from your MIDI controller. MIDI devices will only respond to MIDI messages sent on the same channel as it.

2. Check MIDI settings
   Certain devices, such as the Strymon Timeline or HX Stomp, has settings to determine whether it should respond to certain MIDI messages. For example, the Strymon Timeline has a MIDIPA and MIDICT parameter in it's global settings that tells it whether to respond to MIDI PC and MIDI CC messages respectively. If those settings are turned off, it will not respond to any MIDI PC or CC messages.

Similarly for the HX Stomp, it has a MIDI PC Rx and Rx MIDI Clock setting which determines whether the HX Stomp will respond to PC and MIDI Clock messages.

On the MIDI Controller

1. Check MIDI cable orientation
   Most of the Morningstar MIDI controller uses a 7 pin (or rather, 8 pin but you can just ignore the center pin) MIDI OUTPUT port because there is a phantom power feature where you can power the controller via pins 6 & 7. However, if you are using a standard 5 pin MIDI cable, it is possible to wrongly orientate the cable such that the pins are offset from what they are supposed to be.

2. Check the MIDI Monitor
   All our MIDI Controllers can send MIDI out via USB. Use the MIDI Monitor in the editor, or www.midimonitor.com to check that the MIDI messages are sent when you execute the preset.

3. Check the MIDI Channel settings
   You can specify specific ports to send MIDI messages out to, based on the MIDI channel. For example, MIDI Channel 1 can be set to only be sent out via the USB port and not the DIN MIDI port. Check that your MIDI channel settings are correct for your setup.

Other variables

1. Check your MIDI cables
   Verify that your MIDI cables are working. This may sound uncommon, but almost 80% of connection issues resolved are due to faulty MIDI cables.

2. Check intermediary MIDI deices
   If you are passing MIDI messages through multiple devices, check that the MIDI thru setting is turned on for these devices, so that MIDI messages will be passed through. To troubleshoot safely, connect the MIDI device directly to your MIDI controller when testing, so you can better isolate the issue.

Updated on: 28/12/2023