Owl as Midi USB host

OWL
#1

Hello!
I´m thinking about buying the HoxtonOwl and i´ve got a question!
Could i use the Owl as an Midi USB host like this one http://www.thomann.de/de/kenton_midi_usb_host.htm ?

I want to use a Midi Pedal board (FCB1010) with an effectpedal (Zoom B3) similar to this:

but with the OWL as an Midi-USB Host…

Greetings

#2

hello bobby!

The hardware has the ability to do this, but at the moment the firmware does not.
The USB connector is micro-ab, meaning it can connect both to A and B plugs. The hardware can auto-sense which it is, and configure the interface accordingly.

Writing the code for MIDI USB Host hasn’t been top priority so far, though it would be awesome to have it. You could then connect any USB MIDI device to control more parameters on the OWL, even a keyboard to use it as a synth!

#3

Thank you for the quick response!

Thats probably an interesting feature for many musicians…

#4

Definitely!
Looking into the issue again I’ve found that the excellent people at MIDIbox [1] have already implemented USB MIDI Host on the same microcontroller. Porting this to the OWL shouldn’t be terribly difficult.
The tricky bit is supporting both host and device connections in the same firmware (using the USB OTG capabilities of the MCU). However, and this has only now occurred to me, there might still be a lot to say for having Host and Device in two different firmware images. Not as flexible, but a good place to start experimenting with connecting MIDI controllers.

[1] http://midibox.org/forums/topic/18906-usb-host-support-for-mbhp-core-stm32f4/

#5

I see this was kinda a long time ago, so can the owl currently be used as a midi host? Would save me the money of buying one if so

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