Prophet X MIDI SYSEX requests ignored when MIDI Channel is not set to ALL or CH

[Derek Cook]

Hi,

Just thought I would flag a ticket I have just raised with Sequential Support. It is an issue I was aware of but had forgotten about as the other MIDI SYSEX issues I had reported (now fixed) were more severe.

Just wondering if anybody has seen the same behaviour or knows a little more about it. Keen of course to see what Sequential themselves say!

Basically MIDI SYSEX Comms is fine when the Global Setting MIDI Channel is set to ALL or 2, but not any other setting.

I recalled this issue because I have had my Prophet Channel set to 1 for recent recording, and when I tried backing up some data into my px.factory librarian the other day I was getting MIDI Timeouts when requesting data and not receiving anything back from the synth.

I set the channel back to ALL whilst investigating and found it was all working again. On further investigation this morning, I also found it works when the MIDI Channel is also set to CH2 but not any other channels, which is a little strange?

As a general comment, all of my experience with MIDI SYSEX (primarily Yamaha devices) is that there is usually a SYSEX Device ID number to set, which can be ALL or a specific device ID (seperate and not to be confused with MIDI channel), but there seems to be no equivalent in the Prophet global parameters or SYSEX format? Or not that I can see.

I forgot to say that this is on the USB interface. I have not tried the DIN MIDI, which may also be worth checking when I get five minutes....

=== UPDATE ===

Same problem on DIN MIDI

[Derek Cook]

Sequential have added this to their bug list, although no promise of fixing it, which is disappointing.

[Pixelnix]

Derek, thanks a lot for posting this!

I bought the Prophet X recently, and I was tearing my hair out why I could not get any of the editors to work (either Sound Tower or Midi Quest). I tried USB and DIN MIDI, I tried multiple cables, I even tried a different midi interface.

I realize now from reading your post above that I had run into the above problem - I had set midi channel set to 1 on the PX. If I change it to either 2 or All as you suggest, it now magically works every time!

The Sound Tower editor will actually detect the PX regardless of channel setting on the app side, as long as the PX Global setting is either 2 or All. If I change it to any other channel it doesn't work (regardless of setting in the app).

Very annoying bug as a PX newbie!

[thirteen_engines]

Ahh! That’s why I wasn’t able to get Soundtower to work for all these months. I’ll be checking this out right after my morning coffee.

Cheers,

Keith

[Derek Cook]

it is a strange one, and I am glad my post has helped others.

Still no word from Sequential on fixing this, but at least we know how to work around it, so not a critical one so long as you know about it.

In the meantime, the Prophet is amazing.

[Derek Cook]

Hi, I just chased Sequential on this as it is coming up to the second anniversary of my bug report, and this is the response I got

Yes, the bug still exists and we do still have it on the bug list.  Again, I cannot say when or if it will be addressed though it has been brought up again to software.  Also, though it's less than a complete fix, a workaround would be to either set the Prophet X to All or Channel 2 for now.

I replied

Hi,

Yes, I am well aware of the workarounds.

I appreciate that Sequential are a small company with a lot of products to cover, but I have paid for a premium synthesizer and it would be good to see reported bugs fixed. I first raised this nearly two years ago.

[balinggorgeg]

After reading your message, I understand that I had the same issue—the PX's midi channel was set to 1. Your suggestion that I set it to 2 or All has worked like a charm now.

space bar clicker

[Derek Cook]

Thanks for reporting back and glad this helped. I will chase Sequential again, but I fear that this may never be fixed.

[Stue007]

Please Sequential, get this bug fixed. A last firmware update for the Prophet X will be highly appreciated.