What is needed to hook up another Midi keyboard to my PSR S975

[rogerc]

I know that keyboards like the P515 that have Midi In and Midi out can hook up to my PSR S975.
But can I hook up keyboards that only have "USB to Device" or "USB to Host" as connectivity?
I want to use the full 88 keys and the hammer action on the first keyboard and play it but get the sounds of the PSR 975.
Just not sure what USB to Device and USB to Host actually gives me for connectivity.
For example the DGX 660 does not have Midi In/out but has USB to Device and USB to Host. Sounds like it won't connect to my PSR 975.
Thanks

[mikf]

You need a midi connection to do this.
Mike

[tyrosaurus]

The 660 must be connected to a USB Host which is normally a computer.

However you may be able to use a device such as the Kenton MIDI USB Host instead of a computer...

https://www.kentonuk.com/products/items/utilities/usb-host.shtml

This unit contains the required USB Host input (to connect to the 660 'To Host' socket), and 5 pin DIN MIDI In and Out sockets which you can connect to the 975.

In order to work, the keyboards must be 'class compliant' but I believe that both the 660 and the 975 are.  Here is an extract from the 'Compatibility' page at the Kenton link above:

"Yamaha products first placed on the market in 2012 or later are class compliant and should work. Designs prior to that date relied on their own drivers and will not.
The following Yamaha keyboards ar known to be class compliant and therefore should work OK:

PSR-E353, PSR-E443
PSR-S670, PSR-S770, PSR-S970, PSR-A3000, TYROS-5
NP-12, NP-32
DGX-650, DGX-660
P-105, P-115, P-255"


Although the PSR-S975 is not specifically mentioned here, I believe that it is class compliant but Kenton haven't updated the list!  You could always contact them (or Yamaha) if you want to be sure.

There are other similar devices available if you google something like 'USB MIDI Host'.


Regards

Ian