BeatBuddy, Quantiloop, iRig Pro-Duo, Midi Foot controller

BeatBuddy General
1

I know other’s here have a similar setup having a BeatBuddy, Quantiloop, iRig Pro-Duo, and the iRig Blueboard foot controller. I use the Blueboard for control of Quantiloop for things like starting a track recording, ending a track recording, playing tracks, etc. The one element in this setup I do not like is the iRig Blueboard due to its battery-only operation. I do see that the new Singular Sound Midi-Maestro appears to be a good replacement for the Blueboard, as it does have a power connection and also supports Bluetooth. It seems the Midi Maestro will be a fairly seamless replacement for the iRig Blueboard (Yay! No more battery operation.).

I also did see that Quantiloop supports other MIDI foot controllers. For example, the Behringer FCB1010. But from what I see it does not have Bluetooth connectivity. Other foot controllers available are also in this non-Bluetooth category.

My MIDI connectivity knowledge could be better. Presently the iRig Pro-Duo MIDI IN/OUT ports are connected to the BeatBuddy, using a MID-Sync Breakout cable. And the iRig Pro-Duo Mini-Din is connected to the Apple iPad (for Quantiloop). As stated above, the iRig Blueboard controls Quantiloop via Bluetooth (wireless). So how do I fit a non-Bluetooth MIDI foot controller (i.e., wired) into this setup? Do I need some additional cables (e.g., pass-through)?

Thanks…

2

I use a blueboard and if you remove the battery cover and simply plug in a USB 2 cable to a typical phone AC plug it works. I have it on my board and it powers up when I turn on the power to my board - no batteries. I also use a Morning star MC6 and it is not bluetooth but it is powered by a typical USB cable so I just plug the other end of the USB cable into a very small usb port where I also plug my IRIG duo into and it is recognized my quanitloop and all other apps on my IPAD. This would be the case for any foot-controller as long as it has a USB port.

3

How did you attach the USB2 cable to the Blueboard?

4

I’ve been pondering this question for a couple days. I had to diagram it. In your present set-up, you have a Blueboard feeding midi into an ipad running Quantiloop. The iPad then gets both midi in from the BB, and midi out to the BB via an iRig Pro Duo. My first question is what midi needs to fed from the BB into Quantiloop and what needs to go from Quantiloop to the BB? Are there midi start and stops commands going both ways? I believe when you examine this you will find it is only one way of the other, and if so, that could open up a port for the hardware controller.

But, assuming you need the bidirectional midi, what you would need is a mid merge box that would give you a second port to connect to the midi in of the iRig Pro Duo.

http://www.midisolutions.com/prodmrg.htm

It would be wired as follows BB > Breakout cable (OUT) > midi cable > Merger box In > midi cable >iRig Pro Duo
and
Midi controller > midi cable > Merger Box in 2nd port

The merger box then combines the signals it gets from the BB and from your external foot controller and sends both signals to Quantiloop.

5

Phil,

I believe you got this right. Or at least one option. It seemed like I needed an additional ‘something’ to go in-between the iRig Pro-Duo and the BeatBuddy, which would provide additional MIDI port-connections for other devices (in this case a MIDI foot pedal). I will check on the one your presented as one consideration. There’s a good chance I will go with the new MIDI-Maestro but I wish to check other options before putting the money down. Its not cheap (in price) when compared to something like the Behringer FCB1010 mentioned in my original post, so I hope to see what would ultimately offer the most benefits. Thanks for taking the time understanding the setup.

6

I bought this and plugged it in. https://www.amazon.com/CableDeconn-Degree-Angled-Micro-Charge/dp/B01DZQIAAM/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1525013159&sr=1-1&keywords=Left+90+Degree+Angled+Micro+USB+B+Male+to+USB+A+Male+Data+Charge+Cable

7

I’ll be darned. I never knew that connector was present inside the Blueboard battery compartment. Just ordered one. Many thanks.

…Ken

8

I bought a little 5v voltage regulator and soldered it into the battery compartment along with a power barrel connector. I can then power it from the standard 9v on my pedal board.

9

Ken, that is also how you update the firmware to the pedal also.

10

Larry,

It’s funny. Now that you remind me of this, I do recall a couple years ago updating the firmware when I got the unit. Since then I forgot about that connector. Now with using emacnevin’s suggestion, I have (non-battery) power for the Blueboard. I never realized that connector could be used for this. So I am sitting good at the moment (although still deciding on the Midi-Maestro). Thanks.

…Ken

11

From the Blueboard manual:
“USB Power
On fixed installations this port can also be used to POWER iRig BlueBoard instead of batteries. For example if you plan to include iRig BlueBoard in a more complex pedalboard with integrated power-supply units, you can fix iRig BlueBoard to your pedalboard with Bi-adhesive Velcro, and you can connect a standard Micro-USB cable to this socket and to a regular 5V-USB power supply unit.”