Latest USB Midi Driver for MAC

[klaplante]

Is anyone else having issues with the latest USB Midi Driver for MAC.  After installation,   using Garageband I can have the notes played on the sx900 coming out of the laptop of the organ sound I picked,  but not SX900.  Do I need to have a cable from the headphone jack on the laptop to the audio in on the sx900 to hear everything out of the keyboard.  Maybe my midi setting are not correct.  For a newbie this is pretty confusing.   Basically I want the sounds from GarageBand to come out of the speakers on the sx900. 


Thanks in advance for your help.
Ken

[overover]

Hi Ken,

in many cases you don't need to install a Yamaha USB-MIDI Driver on a MAC. This is because all newer Yamaha arranger keyboard models are USB-MIDI "Class Compliant". The Mac should automatically recognize the SX900 as a USB-MIDI device. That is why there is no USB-MIDI driver for MAC listed on the SX900 download page:
>>> https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/musical_instruments/keyboards/arranger_workstations/psr-sx900/downloads.html#product-tabs

If you have problems with the USB-MIDI connection or the second MIDI Receive Port (USB2) of the SX900 is not available as MIDI Output device on the Mac, you can install the Yamaha USB-MIDI Driver. (Normally you don't need MIDI Port 2 unless you want to control the keyboard parts (Right / Left) or the Style parts directly from the Mac. Most of the time you only need MIDI port 1 (as a MIDI input device or MIDI output device on the Mac). The SONG parts are controlled via port 1 on the SX900 (Receive) by default.)

There are 4 different Versions at the moment (for the different macOS versions):
>>> USB-MIDI Driver V1.5.0 for Mac macOS 11 (Intel/Apple silicon with Rosetta 2)
>>> USB-MIDI Driver V1.3.2-2 for Mac macOS 10.15 - OS X 10.5
>>> USB-MIDI Driver V1.3.1 for Mac OS X 10.4.11
>>> USB-MIDI Driver V1.0.7 for Mac OS 8.6 - 9.2

You can always find the latest USB-MIDI driver by searching for "usb-midi" in the "Keyboard Instruments" category on the Yamaha Support Site:
>>> https://uk.yamaha.com/en/support/updates/index.html?c=keyboards&k=usb-midi


If you want to hear the sound generated on the Mac through the SX900 speakers, you have to connect the headphone output of the Mac to the AUX input of the SX900. On the Mac, you should turn up the volume relatively high in this case. The volume control for the AUX IN of the SX900 can be found in the Mixer display (Panel tab, page 2).

Note: If there is an audible delay when using virtual synths as a sound generator on the Mac via the headphone output, this is probably due to a relatively high latency of the internal sound card. If this latency cannot be set shorter, you would have to use an additional, external USB audio interface as the audio output on the Mac.


On the SX900 use one of the MIDI templates "All Parts" or "KBD & Style". The differences are as follows:
- With "All Parts" the keyboard parts Right 1 - 3 and Left are transmitted on channels 1 - 3 and 4, but only if the relevant parts are switched ON.
- With "KBD & Style" the keyboard play in the Right area is transmitted via the "UPPER" part (channel 1), and the Left area is transmitted via the "LOWER" part (channel 2). In contrast to the "All Parts" template, when using "KBD & Style" the UPPER and LOWER parts are also transmitted even if all keyboard parts are switched OFF.


Hope this helps!

Best regards,
Chris

[klaplante]

Thank you very much for this info Chris.  Great info on the Mac!  I will remove the drivers and try again.  I will also add the cable from headphone jack to aux in!  Off this try all you have suggested here.

[jcook980]

Ken,

Did you get Chris' suggestion to work? I can't get my late 2015 iMac w/Catalina to drive my SX900. Online info about the maddingly difficult to understand Audio MIDI Setup.app is sparse... I'm just trying to get the SX900 to playback a simple MIDI file.

Thanks!

Jim