Dear Support,
I purchased a Puc+ (http://jamstik.com/products/pucplus) in hopes of being able to sendi the midi clock from MBB wirelessly via bluetooth to my IPAD running new IOS that now works with midi over bluetooth. My hope was then I could use Loopy and other apps that accept midi clock to synch to MBB. This would be cool to then expand my options with all of the IOS apps out there. Anyhow when I received my PUC+ from Amazon each time I connected the MBB to the midi port the power turned off on the PUC+. After working with PUC+ tech support this is their response below. Does MBB send voltage through the Midi port and if so how much or is there a wiring diagram? This would be such a cool thing if this worked with MBB. As you can see they tested sending midi clock to IPAD so it does work with a host- just not MBB. : (
From PUC+ Support
Hi,
During a test yesterday, we were able to send MIDI clock into BeatMaker 2 for iOS, but certainly this is just one of many apps. At this point, as far as the automatic shutdown situation goes, I’m wondering if there is some voltage issue with MBB. Unfortunately, we don’t have one to test with the puc+ in office at this time and I’m not certain how to go about getting wiring schematics from them. It might be in our best interest to set up a return. Can you provide me with your order number so I can get the process started?
Thanks, and my apologies again for the issues here.
Best,
Mo
I bought a PUC+ on the weekend and honestly I’m a little disappointed with it and I’ll probably return it. I was hoping to sync the clock on the beat buddy with loopy but the results were poor especially at higher tempos. It seems the PUC+ just cannot keep up with the demands of a MIDI clock. I think the PUC+ is more designed for occasional MIDI signals like that of a keyboard or drum pad; but a MIDI clock is much more demanding and not very fault tolerant.
I’ve found I get reliable results with the camera connection kit and a cheap USB to MIDI interface connected directly to my Beat Buddy.
Hey so good to know- mine went back to amazon. At least your power stayed on to test it. Mine powered down each time I connected it to MBB so I could not even test. Maybe I had a defective one. So the midi clock over bluetooth is not ready for prime time yet. Too bad. There is alot to hope for with cable free in this way in the future. Glad to know it syncs with the cam connection kid the hard wired way. I wanted to do this but I need to power my IPAD while I use it and the cam kit makes that not possible, do you know if a solution that allows to power and use the cam connect kit that is compact and easy?
No, I’m still looking for that magical unicorn device as well. It seems there’s a bunch of audio interfaces out there where you get a mix of some but not all requirements. I need:
Mic/guitar inputs
Digital interface (i.e. not plugged in through the headphone jack on the iPad)
MIDI IN/OUT
USB MIDI (I have a line 6 shortboard MKII)
iPad charging
I have my iPad connected to a powered USB hub then I connect my Audiobox iTwo and any USB midi devices to the hub as well. Then plug my beat buddy into the MIDI on the iTwo. I don’t get iPad charging, but then my battery doesn’t drain fast. This is my ‘at home’ fun setup.
For gigging, I simply use an iPad with a USB-MIDI cable direct to the Beatbuddy. I simply let OnSong select the correct beat and set MIDI tempo. Real simple setup and my battery doesn’t drain enough during a 3 hour gig for me to worry.
I am using Vocalive and Onsong on my Ipad. Maybe its time to get a 2nd cheap used Ipad just for loopy HD since you have verified it synchs. What are you using for a foot controller for loopy (if you are using feet).
line 6 shortboard MKII - but you’ll need a powered USB hub to use this.
There is ALOT of new MIDI implementation in the new firmware that is being tested. I believe you can change songs, and trigger individual parts, etc, with it. Ping @BeatBuddy Support and I believe they will give you the advanced firmware. They want real world testers for the new stuff.
I’ve sent support an email requesting the new firmware (I can’t remember which version I have, but I got it several weeks back), just waiting to hear back. I was hoping they’d add support for changing parts; that’s really the last hurdle for live playing.
Do you have any idea what MIDI commands are used for changing parts within a song?
I stress again that this is a beta version and the actual midi implementation is not so clear and support is limited to those who know how it works. Again I would suggest to be patient a little while more, as it will be coming once any issues have been ironed out and full instructions provided on how it works.
I for one am waiting for the official release and instructions before I start to delve into the midi side of things.
However if you understand midi well and can offer assistance in testing - that would be great 
Cheers psalm40, don’t worry I’m a programmer and I know enough about midi to be dangerous.
I am just awaiting the arrival of the MIDI cable (coming from Hong Kong)…I have the latest FW and I am very familiar with running midi control setups, so hopefully within a day or so I can start posting results. I will be using an external app with embedded MIDI commands at both the start of a song and during the song to make changes. The app I am using has a “hot spot” feature and midi messages can be programmed “in” to these so that when touched the commands are transmitted. This is juts one example of what I am going to try and establish in the control of BB
Having tried the new firmware for the beat buddy, the PUC+ is now viable again with OnSong. Previously I tried to use a MIDI program change to select the correct drum beat and MIDI clock sync to set the tempo. However the PUC+ cannot keep up with the MIDI clock stream. But now, with the new firmware, you can send a MIDI command to set the BPM so the MIDI clock sync is no longer required.
So Ruairiau- am I hearing it is possible to connect the PUC+ to the MBB Midi IN cable (I already have the midi out going to a looper). And then on IPAD connect to the PUC+ then in Onsong when I select a song I can program Onsong to wirelessly select and load that same song in any folder I have on the MBB? if so can you briefly flow chart this for me to confirm. Also would be helpful to know where in onsong I can do this. I saw this post which makes me feel something like this can be done within onsong. http://mybeatbuddy.com/forum/index.php?threads/example-of-using-midi-cc-to-control-bb.5352/
Yeah that exactly what I’m saying.
I detail everything I do in this post: http://mybeatbuddy.com/forum/index.php?threads/using-the-beat-buddy-live-1-76-beta-firmware-version.5326/
Make sure to read further down the page as I’ve even made some videos on how to set things up.