The Kinotone TRS to DIN MIDI adapter + a standard MIDI cable is the best way to connect Kinotone devices via MIDI. No external MIDI box is required.
Estimated cost: $12
A Chase Bliss midibox + a TRS cable (2ft or less) + a standard MIDI cable will work with Ribbons if the MIDI jumper inside is in the “CBA” position. Please note that if you go this route, the TRS cable used must be 2 feet or less in length to guarantee reliable transmission / reception.
Estimated cost: $93.00
Cable solutions that should work but have not been confirmed:
This cable + a 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch adapter + a standard MIDI cable should work with Ribbons if the MIDI jumper inside is in the “B” position. No external MIDI box required.
Estimated cost: $25.00
This cable from Disaster Area should work with Ribbons if the MIDI jumper inside is in the “A” position. No external MIDI box required.
The box is not needed of course, but for my specific setup it made the most sense.
Off topic, but I finally received my Ribbons pedal today and it’s magnificent! So much better my Gen Loss. Much better than I’d expected even and I had high hopes.
Hi, I have a chasebliss midibox, and I have a spot I intend to send to the ribbons. The midibox spot is set to work with Midi as Type A over 1/4" (I had a meris pedal using it prior) and it requires a TS cable. Can I plug the ribbons in as set this way? I’m assuming yes, but I don’t want to damage it.
Thx,
-Zan
Yup! Remove the back plate on your Ribbons and carefully move both the internal jumpers into the CBA position. Then connect your MIDI box to Ribbons using a TRS cable.
A TS cable will not work.
You don’t need a special TRS cable with the tip floating or whatever like you do with Chase Bliss pedals.
Hi Jaak,
I changed the midibox’s internal jumpers to work for tip active (ring floating)- specifically it was a Meris polymoon, and for reasons of science, the CB MIDIbox instructions says using a TS cable is fine. Confirming, you’re saying this won’t work for ribbons? Can I make the type A work with the tip active - OR - do I need to change both devices back to CBA / ring active and use the TRS?
The other option is just to go out the MIDIBox thru and call it a day. Lol.
You’ll need to set both devices back to CBA / ring-active mode and use TRS. I believe you can configure this per jack in the CBA MIDI Box.
Alternatively, you can order the cable from our web store and connect it to the MIDI Thru.
Apologies if TRS MIDI is a little confusing— it wasn’t standardized by the MIDI Association until 2018, so there’s still some catching up across the industry. Our devices default to the 2018 standard, but we’ve included alternative options to help improve compatibility.
Before 2018, many pedal companies tried to combine MIDI and tap tempo into a single jack, which led to all the strange combinations we’re discussing now.
Jaak, one quick thing for you to hopefully sort out. If the CBA Midibox thru has the sink and source flipped (sink on 4, and source on 5) we have a mess right? I’d hope the standard for the din pin female jack routing is set in stone - sink 5; source 4; ground 2.
-Zan
kinotone on the way, i’ve got a morningstar midi box, so can i just set the internal jumpers to the chase-bliss style position and connect using a standard 1/8inch to 1/4inch TRS audio cable??
