A modern reinvention of the MIDI router by Conductive Labs
Latest Updates from Our Project:
MRCC Update May 2022 - Latest Firmware, Retailers, MIDI Innovation Awards
almost 2 years ago
– Fri, May 06, 2022 at 07:14:47 PM
Hello lovely backers, its been a while! We wanted to share a couple of things via KS since we don't have a mail list. We hope you don't mind.
First of all, we hope you are all enjoying using the MRCC MIDI Router Control Center in your studios! Based on the feedback we've received, we believe you are! If you have any issues, please leave a message on our forums at: conductivelabs.com/forum or use the contact form on our website and we'll help you out.
Latest Firmware
We have had many firmware updates for MRCC since its initial release. If you haven't updated, you can find the latest firmware (v1.1.052) on the Conductive Labs Downloads page. There have been several bug fixes, the most important one being a fix to intermittent corruption in saved patches (fixed in MRCC_v1.1.035_09-20-2021). And some new features added, including MRCC to MRCC routing over an Ethernet cable, and the latest being SysEx support for the remaining ports (7-12 and Remote 7).
Retailers
Those who are contemplating purchasing MRCC or any accessories, you can find our products at retailers around the world, including: Perfect Circuit and Patchwerks in the USA, SchneidersLaden and Thomann in Germany, Juno Records and Signal Sounds in the UK. Most of these shops ship worldwide.
MIDI Innovation Awards
The MRCC is a candidate for the 2022 MIDI.ORG MIDI Innovation Awards and we would love to get your vote! Just go to the "Commercial Hardware Products" category, look over the candidates, click the "Vote for Commercial Hardware" button, then pick your 3 favorites to vote. We hope MRCC will be one of them!
New Products
Finally, we're working on a couple of new MIDI widgets. The first is called MRCC XpandR 4x1, a 4x DIN input and 1x DIN output expander for MRCC, via MRCC USB host port(s). It can also be used as a 4x1 PC USB MIDI interface, or as a stand-alone USB powered 4x1 MIDI merger. Its going into production now. We hope to have XpandR available in July. Use the Remote 7 to get outputs to where you need them in your studio up to 50 feet away. Use XpandR for more DIN Inputs at USB cable length, up to 9 feet (or longer with an active USB cable repeater). You can have up to four XpandR's per MRCC, if you can spare the USB host ports.
We'll be showing MRCC, XpandR and a "yet to be announced" product at NAMM 2022. Come by for a demo at the Delicious Audio boutique synth booth if you are there!
All the best,
Darryl and Steve
MRCC Backlog is Shipped!
over 2 years ago
– Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 04:45:50 AM
We have some great news; all of the MRCC Kickstarter and Backerkit pre-orders have been shipped. The last group of Backerkit pre-orders were queued up this week and most of them are already with the carriers. With the exception of a couple of backers who never returned the survey, and a couple of requests to delay delivery, everyone should receive an email from 'trackmyshipment.co' by the end of this week.
Thank you again to all of our Kickstarter backers and Backerkit pre-order customers for your patience and support. We hope you all find MRCC was worth the wait.
For those still waiting for delivery, please keep an eye on the tracking for your shipment. We've seen an unusual number of delivery exceptions because nobody was available to receive the package. Its that time of year when a lot of people are on holiday. We are paying up to $60 and $70 dollars or more for postage, and you don't want to have to pay that to have it re-shipped if it gets returned. Depending on the carrier, you will often have the option of requesting the carrier to hold the package for pickup, delay delivery or have it delivered to an alternate address.
Oops, I (Darryl) made another mistake on the customs values... I forgot to change the value on Backerkit from the very cheapest Kickstarter prices before submitting the Backerkit pre-orders to the warehouse, then it was too late to change them. If customs asks you for an invoice, let us know and we'll send you one. Sorry about the (my) confusion. Backerkit should just put the paid price on there, I don't know why they have a separate setting.
We have MRCCs and accessories available on the conductivelabs.com shop. Tell your MIDI inclined friends!
Enjoy your summer and your studio!
Darryl and Steve
The MRCCs Have Arrived Part II
almost 3 years ago
– Sat, Jul 17, 2021 at 07:39:45 PM
Lovely Backers,
We are happy to announce that the next delivery of MRCC's have arrived at the fulfillment warehouse, they are all checked in, and we've begun to queue up the rest of your orders.
You can start looking for the tracking email from 'trackmyshipment.co' to arrive next week (the week of July 19th), which is the earliest the carriers would start picking up the parcels. It will take most of the week to get them all, nearly 400 pieces, shipped out so there is some chance your tracking email will show up the following week. If you don't get a tracking email by July 30, please let us know and we'll look it up for you.
We typically ship by DHL Express or FedEx, depending on what our postal provider (Easyship.com) offers to your destination from our Hong Kong warehouse. Sadly, they are no longer offering DHL to Europe. Apologies in advance for any fees charged by the carrier, but its worth the expense for having them handle passing the package through customs. It typically goes much faster, while tracking and delivery is more reliable.
The crew loading up the truck bound for HK
We really do appreciate your patience! It has been a long haul, and you have all been very supportive considering our lateness. We are really happy to finally be at this stage where all Kickstarter and Backerkit pre-orders will be fulfilled! We hope you find MRCC worth the wait. We think its pretty cool.
The MRCC comes with a Quick Start Guide, but you will need the User Manual for the details. You can find that on our website. Its currently only in English language, but our friend Benoit is working on a French translation which is pretty far along and should be posted in a week or two. In the meantime, try copy and pasting to translate.google.com for a better than nothing translation.
We have about 50 MRCCs and accessories inventory before the next batch arrives, and we are taking orders for those on conductivelabs.com/shop now.
What's Next?
Besides the Firmware updates you will find on the website, and pre-release FW on the forum, we have a couple of widgets we are working on for MRCC... The first is MRCC 4x1, a MIDI port expander, which adds 4x 5 pin DIN inputs (plus a shared 3.5MM jack) and one 5 pin DIN output, with a MIDI thru out a 3.5MM TRS. The 4 inputs and output are individually routable using the buttons associated with the MRCC USB host port it is attached to. It can also be used as a computer MIDI interface for 4x USB MIDI virtual input ports and an output. Or used stand-alone as a USB powered 4 In to 1 Out MIDI merger. We'll make a video when its further along in development.
The other widget is a custom RJ45 splitter, which can be used to add a Remote 7 to one MRCC in an MRCC to MRCC configuration. Yes, some of us need 2 MRCCs and a Remote 7! If you don't want to wait for us to make this splitter, let us know on the forum and we'll share the pinouts so you can make your own.
We are wishing the best for our friends in Europe who are experiencing flooding ❤
Steve and Darryl
Next Batch of MRCCs Nearing Completion
almost 3 years ago
– Thu, Jul 08, 2021 at 02:40:28 PM
We met with our manufacturer last night and got an update on assembly for the next batch of MRCCs. We originally planned to have them ship to the warehouse this Friday (the 9th of July), but it looks like that will slip to Monday or Tuesday. This will give them enough time to complete enough MRCCs and Remote 7s to fulfill the entire backlog. That's worth waiting a couple more days.
As soon as the delivery is checked in at the warehouse we can start shipping. It will take a few days to get them all queued up with labels and accessories. We will make another update when they start shipping so you can look for the shipping notification in your email.
Some people have 2 orders, one for MRCC and one for accessories. We have to manually combine these orders before we can ship them. So if you see some emails from Backerkit that your order was cancelled, and a new charge was made, that's just us adding the accessories to your original MRCC order and cancelling the separate order.
If you are leaving for holiday, you should make a request to the carrier to delay delivery, or have them deliver to a different location (neighbor, friend, etc). You can contact the carrier once you receive the tracking link with the carriers tracking number.
There's a new MRCC firmware in the MRCC Open Beta Firmware section of the forum.
Fixed some "if" logic issues for System Common & System Real Time messages so as not to be blocked, happened in 3 places: CHANNEL_MAP, CHAN_TO_PORT & NOTE_MAP
5-Pin MIDI now able to send SongPosition, TimeCodeQuarterFrame, SongSelect, & TuneRequest
SysEx now passes thru the USB Host ports!
Other changes:
Capped the LED brightness to 6, down from 10 (this doesn't change the overall brightness levels, just caps the highest levels of intensity).
Added (4) new, and tweaked a few of the Light Shows!
Known issues: TuneRequest msg type - blocked on USB Host ports. Occasional flickering of RGB LEDs at the end of the chain.
That's all for now, we'll be back next week when the MRCCs are shipping!
Manufacturing Update, and first Firmware Update
almost 3 years ago
– Sat, Jun 26, 2021 at 12:37:36 AM
Greetings backers,
Most of the first round of MRCC shipments have landed. The MRCC forum is very active. Most of the comments we've seen have been regarding the fit and finish of the MRCC, and we really appreciate the compliments. Thank you. The biggest complaint? The RGB LEDs are too bright in a dark studio. We made them as dim as we could without losing the intended colors, but we will take another look at how to dim them more, or shut them off after a timeout. In the future we might try shorter, tinted light pipes.
Our manufacturing rep received another batch of finished enclosures on Monday and have been assembling MRCCs for the next round of deliveries. The enclosures have been troublesome, with quality issues and delays due to rolling power outages in the town they are made. However, we have critical mass of carefully inspected enclosures to complete our backlog of orders. Both Kickstarter and Backerkit pre-orders.
They should have enough made for a shipment to the warehouse the week of July 5th. We probably could not ship them any sooner as we are also waiting for more Remote 7 enclosures.
The chefs at work:
This is the silk screen being applied and going through curing and packing:
First MRCC Firmware Update Posted
The first MRCC firmware update is now on the conductivelabs.com/download page.
1. New setting in the SETTINGS menu for changing Remote 7 from "copied" ports, to remotely routable ports using the Y remote routing button. Yes, 5 more routable ports! Be sure to enable Remote 7 in the settings menu, and "R7 Ports: Remote 1-5".
2. MRCC to MRCC routing (experimental). Connect 2 MRCCs together with the RJ45 port. The 2nd MRCC is auto-detected when its attached and turned on. Hold the Y button and select remote outputs (1-12). Hold the Y button to see remote routings and activity (in yellow) on the Activity screen.
3. A new MOD called Channel to Port Mapping (C-P1) will map the channels of an input to individual channels on seperate outputs. See the new manual for details.
4. A new MOD call Note Map (NMp) will let you select notes to transpose to. A Note Map Type setting defines rules for how notes will be transposed. Steve's playground :-)
Bugs fixed:
A problem routing SysEx data from a PC port to a PC port.
Known issues:
Using Exclusive mode on the Channel Map MOD blocks MIDI real-time data, such as clock on that routing.
Enable routing SysEx from/to USB host ports, though we don't know what would use that.
There's also a new The NDLR firmware update with some bug fixes and performance enhancements. Its a must have for NDLR use in the MRCC USB host port. Its available in the NDLR Open Beta Firmware forum. Along with release notes.
Stay tuned for an update when the MRCC's reach the warehouse. And thank you for the extraordinary patience!
