Help using PSR S970 as a midi controller with Cakewalk DAW & Spitfire Audio Labs

[Taffinator]

Happy New Year all.
I've downloaded the free Spitfire Audio Labs samples [excellent] & the now free Cakewalk DAW but am struggling to link everything to my PSR S970.

I've used a 2 midi cables into 1 usb cable to go from the midi out & in of my S970 to the USB socket of my laptop.

I've opened Cakewalk & managed to load Spitfire Audio Labs Synth into it - it plays single notes when I press [click] on the piano roll on my laptop screen [in Cakewalk],
but when I press the keys on my S970 it doesn't play the Labs Synth in Cakewalk, I hear nothing.

Is there some sort of idiot's guide to achieving this - I've tried using the S970 Owner's Manual, and the Reference Manual but am struggling.

I just want to experiment playing vsts in a DAW using my PSR S970 as a midi controller keyboard, then I can augment audio recordings made with my Yamaha.

Thanks in advance for any support / direction you may offer,

best wishes,

Mike

[SeaGtGruff]

The very first thing you should check-- because it's such a common mistake-- is that you have the two MIDI plugs connected to the correct MIDI ports. The MIDI IN plug of the USB-MIDI cable goes into the MIDI OUT port of the keyboard, and the MIDI OUT plug goes into the MIDI IN port.

That might seem backward, but you can think of it this way: You want the keyboard's OUTPUT to be INPUT for whatever software the USB-MIDI cable is being used with, and likewise you want the software's OUTPUT to be INPUT for the keyboard.

The short version is "OUT goes to IN, and IN goes to OUT."