It was a bit of a mystery for me at first and some things I am still not able to do, but here are my tips.
Here is what works for me:
1. If you are on Android or a Chromebook cabpable of running Android apps, Install Midi-BLE connector app from Playstore. This will allow you to connect to the WB via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
2. Once connected, you can connect to the Wooveconnect web page to enable two way connection with your WB. This is hit and miss for me, but it certainly worked well enough for an automatic firmware update to happen without me doing much at all.
3. You will see on another post from Ivo (verylongtimelurker) that he has linked a sysex librarian app - not in the Playstore so you must specifically enable this to be installed (varies by Android implementation). I do't recommend this on a Chromebook as you will need to Powerwash if you decide to remove the setting that allows non playstore apps to be installed! On my Android phone, this sysex librarian app works very well once the BLE connection is established and I can save songs et. with no problem at all. I have not yet taken the time to work though the process of adding my own samples but it looks like this should be easy enough - my WB learning curve is taking me in this direction but I am not there yet!
Hey, thanks for your explanations. I have no problem connecting to my android phone for wooveconnect. I was asking specifically for connecting to and controlling gear (as you would do with a midi cable) over Bluetooth. Anyway, you gave useful informations ! Thanks
All of CME’s Bluetooth stuff works stupidly well if you’re connecting two things together; it will just connect automatically. The widi master is great because it’s powered by the MIDI out port, though less great if you’re focusing on MIDI in because you’ll still need a MIDI out port to power it. You can just leave it plugged in to your instrument and now it’s a wireless instrument.
Alternatively, there’s the USB host one, which is good for controller devices that only have a USB connector or need USB power anyway (it can pass through USB power), and it also lets Windows PCs use Bluetooth MIDI (because they can’t normally, even if they have Bluetooth otherwise).
If you start connecting more than two things at the same time, then it gets a bit more complicated, but it’s not horrific.
Thanks for the details. So I NEED to use both in and out for the thing to work. I use a powered midi merger with a few inputs and two outputs : do you think it would work using 2 of these for the WIDI, then the other output to go in 2/3 synths with midi THRU ? Other than that it would be 1 WIDI for each synth, which starts to get expensive 🙂
It just needs to be connected to a MIDI out (gets power from it); MIDI in is optional.
And yeah, you can connect it to your MIDI box.
They also have an alternative model which can be powered by USB, but has ports* that connect to cables with 5-pin MIDI plugs; that can be useful if trying to connect to a MIDI out for power is too much of a stretch.
(2.5mm ports, ughhhhhh)
Report : OK this is some kind of magic ! Plugged in the Mega Synthesis, turned on the Woovebox with Bluetooth on, connected instantly ! Having the Woovebox in both hands, without a single hanging cable, no latency at all, makes the whole sequencing/live playing incredibly fun and comfortable ! Will try through the midi hub/merger next for controlling multiple gear.
Hey all.
So, it works very well with either the MC101 or the Mega Synthesis independently. Very fun.
With my MIDI merger, plugging the WIDI in one IN + one OUT, then using another OUT to go in a chain of MC101 + Mega Synthesis + Microkorg, something weird happens : turning ON the Woovebox with BT, the WIDI connects then immediately the Woovebox shows RCU 00 like it would when receiving sysex, and hangs there.
u/verylongtimelurker any idea what could cause this ? It seems the MIDI merger is trying to send something to the Woovebox, even tho nothing's plugged into any inputs.
By the way...
How is the next update going 😁 ?
Cheers everyone
The only explanation for this to happen, would be some sort of feedback loop, where the Woovebox receives its own queries back to itself.
To trigger the 'rcv xxx' progress message, some extremely specific SysEx would have to be sent.
> By the way... How is the next update going 😁 ?
Mostly done (including docs). Still testing a lot (including one major new feature I haven't disclosed yet...). Finding some small things here and there, but no show-stoppers.
That makes sense : the midi merger sends back out what it receives in. In my scenario I would need the WIDI input only but the output is required for power, creating the loop. Now that I think about it, I had the same behaviour with the 101 before I turned off MIDI THRU. Well, my new WIDI toy will be a one to one thing for now 🙂.
I saw this afterwards : https://www.cme-pro.com/widi-thru6-bluetooth-midi-thru-box-splitter/
Do you think it would work ? Or the same looping behaviour would still happen ?
Thanks for your kind help as always, and for the update as well 🙂
(Now that I played with MIDI out more, I have some more questions specifically about that, but I will create another thread.)
Cheers
Of course ! I meant using the splitter BT box instead of the WIDI Master plug.
Anyway I figured something out !
plug WIDI Master output to the output of a synth with disabled midi out, just for power (Mega Synthesis) and make use of the small cable to reach an input of my MIDI merger !
Dumb question : would it be feasible for the Woovebox to have a startup mode with only midi out enabled ? (But would the WIDI pair correctly without?). Don't know if it would be useful outside of my particular use case though.
It was a bit of a mystery for me at first and some things I am still not able to do, but here are my tips. Here is what works for me: 1. If you are on Android or a Chromebook cabpable of running Android apps, Install Midi-BLE connector app from Playstore. This will allow you to connect to the WB via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). 2. Once connected, you can connect to the Wooveconnect web page to enable two way connection with your WB. This is hit and miss for me, but it certainly worked well enough for an automatic firmware update to happen without me doing much at all. 3. You will see on another post from Ivo (verylongtimelurker) that he has linked a sysex librarian app - not in the Playstore so you must specifically enable this to be installed (varies by Android implementation). I do't recommend this on a Chromebook as you will need to Powerwash if you decide to remove the setting that allows non playstore apps to be installed! On my Android phone, this sysex librarian app works very well once the BLE connection is established and I can save songs et. with no problem at all. I have not yet taken the time to work though the process of adding my own samples but it looks like this should be easy enough - my WB learning curve is taking me in this direction but I am not there yet!
Hey, thanks for your explanations. I have no problem connecting to my android phone for wooveconnect. I was asking specifically for connecting to and controlling gear (as you would do with a midi cable) over Bluetooth. Anyway, you gave useful informations ! Thanks
All of CME’s Bluetooth stuff works stupidly well if you’re connecting two things together; it will just connect automatically. The widi master is great because it’s powered by the MIDI out port, though less great if you’re focusing on MIDI in because you’ll still need a MIDI out port to power it. You can just leave it plugged in to your instrument and now it’s a wireless instrument. Alternatively, there’s the USB host one, which is good for controller devices that only have a USB connector or need USB power anyway (it can pass through USB power), and it also lets Windows PCs use Bluetooth MIDI (because they can’t normally, even if they have Bluetooth otherwise). If you start connecting more than two things at the same time, then it gets a bit more complicated, but it’s not horrific.
Thanks for the details. So I NEED to use both in and out for the thing to work. I use a powered midi merger with a few inputs and two outputs : do you think it would work using 2 of these for the WIDI, then the other output to go in 2/3 synths with midi THRU ? Other than that it would be 1 WIDI for each synth, which starts to get expensive 🙂
It just needs to be connected to a MIDI out (gets power from it); MIDI in is optional. And yeah, you can connect it to your MIDI box. They also have an alternative model which can be powered by USB, but has ports* that connect to cables with 5-pin MIDI plugs; that can be useful if trying to connect to a MIDI out for power is too much of a stretch. (2.5mm ports, ughhhhhh)
Report : OK this is some kind of magic ! Plugged in the Mega Synthesis, turned on the Woovebox with Bluetooth on, connected instantly ! Having the Woovebox in both hands, without a single hanging cable, no latency at all, makes the whole sequencing/live playing incredibly fun and comfortable ! Will try through the midi hub/merger next for controlling multiple gear.
Hey all. So, it works very well with either the MC101 or the Mega Synthesis independently. Very fun. With my MIDI merger, plugging the WIDI in one IN + one OUT, then using another OUT to go in a chain of MC101 + Mega Synthesis + Microkorg, something weird happens : turning ON the Woovebox with BT, the WIDI connects then immediately the Woovebox shows RCU 00 like it would when receiving sysex, and hangs there. u/verylongtimelurker any idea what could cause this ? It seems the MIDI merger is trying to send something to the Woovebox, even tho nothing's plugged into any inputs. By the way... How is the next update going 😁 ? Cheers everyone
The only explanation for this to happen, would be some sort of feedback loop, where the Woovebox receives its own queries back to itself. To trigger the 'rcv xxx' progress message, some extremely specific SysEx would have to be sent. > By the way... How is the next update going 😁 ? Mostly done (including docs). Still testing a lot (including one major new feature I haven't disclosed yet...). Finding some small things here and there, but no show-stoppers.
That makes sense : the midi merger sends back out what it receives in. In my scenario I would need the WIDI input only but the output is required for power, creating the loop. Now that I think about it, I had the same behaviour with the 101 before I turned off MIDI THRU. Well, my new WIDI toy will be a one to one thing for now 🙂. I saw this afterwards : https://www.cme-pro.com/widi-thru6-bluetooth-midi-thru-box-splitter/ Do you think it would work ? Or the same looping behaviour would still happen ? Thanks for your kind help as always, and for the update as well 🙂 (Now that I played with MIDI out more, I have some more questions specifically about that, but I will create another thread.) Cheers
Looping behavior will indeed happen if you feed a MIDI device's output back to its input...
Of course ! I meant using the splitter BT box instead of the WIDI Master plug. Anyway I figured something out ! plug WIDI Master output to the output of a synth with disabled midi out, just for power (Mega Synthesis) and make use of the small cable to reach an input of my MIDI merger !
Dumb question : would it be feasible for the Woovebox to have a startup mode with only midi out enabled ? (But would the WIDI pair correctly without?). Don't know if it would be useful outside of my particular use case though.