3.5mm TRS audio cables for connecting midi

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#1

Hi there.
Can I use any regular 3.5mm TRS audio cable for Arturia gear midi connections? Is there anything I need to be aware of? Thanks.

#2

HI @KalnzEB and welcome to The Sound Explorers Forum!

If both devices have 3.5mm TRS, with at least one having midi i/o as the ‘send’, then yes this should be possible.
There are also 3.5mm TRS to DIN adapters available, which i’ve used a couple of times in the past.
Personally, i try to avoid 3.5mm midi whenever possible, in fact i try to avoid 3.5mm anything in the studio if possible.
If you have ‘DIN’ midi sockets i’d use those instead, or USB if it’s not noisy. (SOME USB midi connections on synths can be rather noisy, so it’s worth checking first).

HTH!

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#3

Keep in mind that there are different wiring types for TRS MIDI. You can only use a TRS cable to connect devices that use the same type. Otherwise, it’s best to use the DIN adapter that came with each device. You can find more information and a database of device types at https://minimidi.world/

What are you trying to connect together?

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#4

The devices I want to connect are Beatstep + MicroFreak.

#5

The original Beatstep doesn’t use TRS MIDI, but a 3.5mm TS connector that isn’t compatible with most other devices. Your best bet will be to to use the DIN adapters and a standard MIDI cable.

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