Using an old synthstation25

by **cskuehn** » Tue Mar 27, 2018 9:36 pm

Hello all,

Years ago, I bought music studio because it supported the akai synthstation 25 keyboard. I've recently repurposed an old iPhone 4S running iOS 9.3.5. This phone had a previous version of music studio, so I know it used to work, and since it has the 30.pin connection, it would fit in the synthstation.

I've downloaded v2.9 of music studio, and although it works with the iPhone, I can't get any sound (or any activity whatsoever) on the synthstation when the app is running and the phone is plugged into the keyboard. Btw, I did buy the app, so it's not a lite edition issue.

What is the problem, or did support for this legacy keyboard disappear at some point? Thanks in advance

by **Bianca** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 7:44 am

If I recall correctly Music studio stopped supporting the synth station back when Apple insisted on apps going 64bit and Akai didn’t produce a 64bit update for the synth station.

On the other hand if you happen to have the midibridge app you can use that to bridge between the synth station and music studio on the iPhone 4s as Audeonic decided to freeze the app at a version that still works, downside of which is midibridge doesn’t work in iOS 11.

by **Alex** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 9:09 am

Right, we had to drop SynthStation support back in 2015 when we released Music Studio 2.6, see
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2605&p=7158&hilit=synthstation#p7158

I explained the technical reasons here:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2408

Bianca wrote:On the other hand if you happen to have the midibridge app you can use that to bridge between the synth station and music studio on the iPhone 4s as Audeonic decided to freeze the app at a version that still works, downside of which is midibridge doesn’t work in iOS 11.

Thanks for reminding me about MIDI Bridge again, I almost forgot about it :roll:

Here's a related discussion where it sounds like it works pretty well:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3864&p=8963

by **cskuehn** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 3:45 pm

Thanks for getting back to me on this. I have one more question. I have the same version of music studio v2.9 on my iPad 2 (30 pin) and my iPad Air 2 (lightning). In addition to my synthstation25, I also have the 49-Key version. If I connect either iPad to my synthstation49, music studio works perfectly. Older iPad runs iOS 9.3.5, and new iPad runs 11.2.6.

I confirmed this last night. How come 25 key doesn’t work, but 49 key controller does?

by **Bianca** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 4:01 pm

If you read the Akai blurb from when they were released it seems that the 25 came out before Apple Core Midi
So it needed a custom SDK whereas the 49 came with Core Midi built in.

by **cskuehn** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 5:44 pm

So my synthstation is obsolete, which I kinda figured. Alex, I do remember seeing that post a long time ago, but thanks for pulling it up. Would music studio run on a device such as the Korg Microkey air? I’d like to get away from the dependency on specific connections, and just use Bluetooth. Thoughts, anyone?

by **Bianca** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 8:04 pm

Buy midibridge- put iphone4s in synthstation25 download midimittr

Bingo Bluetooth keyboard to use with your iPad

by **cskuehn** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 9:10 pm

Thanks, all. I now have a plan! Cheers!

Using an old synthstation25

Using an old synthstation25

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