How important is to have some form of electrical isolation in MIDI connectors?











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I want to connect two MIDI keyboards by connecting the MIDI OUT of the first keyboard to the MIDI IN of the second keyboard, but I don't have the connector and I'm nowhere near a music store to buy one. And for that, I want to make my own DIN to DIN MIDI connector. I have two male 5 pin DIN connectors, and the question is, do I have to put some kind of isolation (usually an optocoupler) between the connectors? Or is it safe to just solder them directly without some form of isolation? As far as I know, optocoupler isolation usually found in MIDI to USB interface/adapter. I don't know if a MIDI to MIDI connector is supposed to be electrically isolated or not.






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  • Also I was advised to use ferrite beads for EMI protection inside my MIDI device. Sometimes you see this in the cable (e.g. like USB/mouse/keyboard).
    – Michel Keijzers
    Nov 25 at 10:44















up vote
5
down vote

favorite












I want to connect two MIDI keyboards by connecting the MIDI OUT of the first keyboard to the MIDI IN of the second keyboard, but I don't have the connector and I'm nowhere near a music store to buy one. And for that, I want to make my own DIN to DIN MIDI connector. I have two male 5 pin DIN connectors, and the question is, do I have to put some kind of isolation (usually an optocoupler) between the connectors? Or is it safe to just solder them directly without some form of isolation? As far as I know, optocoupler isolation usually found in MIDI to USB interface/adapter. I don't know if a MIDI to MIDI connector is supposed to be electrically isolated or not.






midi







share|improve this question







New contributor




Yudhi G. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




















  • Also I was advised to use ferrite beads for EMI protection inside my MIDI device. Sometimes you see this in the cable (e.g. like USB/mouse/keyboard).
    – Michel Keijzers
    Nov 25 at 10:44













up vote
5
down vote

favorite









up vote
5
down vote

favorite











I want to connect two MIDI keyboards by connecting the MIDI OUT of the first keyboard to the MIDI IN of the second keyboard, but I don't have the connector and I'm nowhere near a music store to buy one. And for that, I want to make my own DIN to DIN MIDI connector. I have two male 5 pin DIN connectors, and the question is, do I have to put some kind of isolation (usually an optocoupler) between the connectors? Or is it safe to just solder them directly without some form of isolation? As far as I know, optocoupler isolation usually found in MIDI to USB interface/adapter. I don't know if a MIDI to MIDI connector is supposed to be electrically isolated or not.






midi







share|improve this question







New contributor




Yudhi G. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











I want to connect two MIDI keyboards by connecting the MIDI OUT of the first keyboard to the MIDI IN of the second keyboard, but I don't have the connector and I'm nowhere near a music store to buy one. And for that, I want to make my own DIN to DIN MIDI connector. I have two male 5 pin DIN connectors, and the question is, do I have to put some kind of isolation (usually an optocoupler) between the connectors? Or is it safe to just solder them directly without some form of isolation? As far as I know, optocoupler isolation usually found in MIDI to USB interface/adapter. I don't know if a MIDI to MIDI connector is supposed to be electrically isolated or not.






midi




midi






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Yudhi G. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











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asked Nov 24 at 16:14









Yudhi G.

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Yudhi G. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






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  • Also I was advised to use ferrite beads for EMI protection inside my MIDI device. Sometimes you see this in the cable (e.g. like USB/mouse/keyboard).
    – Michel Keijzers
    Nov 25 at 10:44


















  • Also I was advised to use ferrite beads for EMI protection inside my MIDI device. Sometimes you see this in the cable (e.g. like USB/mouse/keyboard).
    – Michel Keijzers
    Nov 25 at 10:44
















Also I was advised to use ferrite beads for EMI protection inside my MIDI device. Sometimes you see this in the cable (e.g. like USB/mouse/keyboard).
– Michel Keijzers
Nov 25 at 10:44




Also I was advised to use ferrite beads for EMI protection inside my MIDI device. Sometimes you see this in the cable (e.g. like USB/mouse/keyboard).
– Michel Keijzers
Nov 25 at 10:44










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The isolation is handled on the device, not the cable. A normal MIDI (MIDI to MIDI) cable does not contain optocouplers or other isolation. You see the isolation on the USB adapters because the adapter is serving as one of the 'devices'.






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    1 Answer
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    up vote
    23
    down vote



    accepted










    The isolation is handled on the device, not the cable. A normal MIDI (MIDI to MIDI) cable does not contain optocouplers or other isolation. You see the isolation on the USB adapters because the adapter is serving as one of the 'devices'.






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      up vote
      23
      down vote



      accepted










      The isolation is handled on the device, not the cable. A normal MIDI (MIDI to MIDI) cable does not contain optocouplers or other isolation. You see the isolation on the USB adapters because the adapter is serving as one of the 'devices'.






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        up vote
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        up vote
        23
        down vote



        accepted






        The isolation is handled on the device, not the cable. A normal MIDI (MIDI to MIDI) cable does not contain optocouplers or other isolation. You see the isolation on the USB adapters because the adapter is serving as one of the 'devices'.






        share|improve this answer












        The isolation is handled on the device, not the cable. A normal MIDI (MIDI to MIDI) cable does not contain optocouplers or other isolation. You see the isolation on the USB adapters because the adapter is serving as one of the 'devices'.







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        answered Nov 24 at 16:26









        evildemonic

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