Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Help with my DGX-650 and Synthesia!

Ok, I have recently purchased the app known as Synthesia for my iPad Air. I own a DGX-650 and for some reason I just can't get it to connect.

Here is what I have:

-DGX-650
-iPad Air
-Synthesia
-Lightning to USB Camera Adapter
-USB Type A to Type B wire (Same wire found connected to printers that use USB)

Now I have read the Owner's Manual for the DGX-650 and I have also been on Synthesia's Website. (http://www.synthesiagame.com) I even noticed that Synthesia had a DGX-650 on their recommended list, but I still can not figure this one out. I can't even use Garage band with my Piano.

This is what I have done:

- Read Manual (it tells me how to plug it in, but I don't see anything about a setting even if there is one.)
- Visited Synthesia's Website and went through a small tutorial.
- Check Youtube and the Internet and astonishingly there is nothing to with Synthesia and a iPad.
- Tried different USB Type A to Type B Cables

Nothing will show up in Synthesia > Settings > Music Devices > Music Input

The Cables work Just fine, I've tested them.

Please Help, it'll be very appreciated.

Yamaha has a special manual on their download page for the DGX-650 but it doesn't say much other than to plug it in. And really that's all you should need to do - most MIDI-aware apps are just listening. The first thing I would check is, is the camera connection adapter really working? Like, check it to actually load a couple photos from a camera and see if that works.

I meant to say, Yamaha has a special manual just for iPad/iPhone connections.

Ok, thanks I'll go check it out and see if it works.

I agree with this advice. FWIW - while I don't use Synthesia, I DO use my DGX-640 (NOT DGX-650, but should be similar) with my iPad. (The app in my case is Home Concert Xtreme.)

Otherwise same connections as you - HCX worked "straight out of the box". No fiddling with settings required. So, it sounds like a hardware issue to me.

No hardware issues I just checked. Unless there is a certain type of USB Type A to Type B Cable.

Any A/B cable should work. I've never found one that didn't. I'm wondering if this a problem specific to the iPad Air. Do you have an older iPad you can test it with? Another suggestion I've seen is to use a powered USB hub as a go-between (I know the manual says not to do that), however it doesn't sound like you're getting an error about power. Or the other possibility is the USB port on your piano has a problem. Can you test it against something that's not an iPad? Like a computer running the demo version of Pianteq? (You also need to install the special Yamaha USB-MIDI drivers.)

I don't see any default MIDI settings in the manual that should prevent it from working, but you might want to check all your MIDI settings against the manual.

The Piano is brand new, I wouldn't imagine it having a USB issue. I guess I could try a different A to B Cable.
The USB Camera Adapter worked No problem. The Synthesia Website says that any OS that is iOS 5 and above should work. I currently Have iOS 8.

I'm out of ideas. I did notice, when googling around, people complaining specifically about iPad Air and/or iOS 8 not detecting MIDI keyboards and other devices for no reason that anybody could determine. And in some cases MIDI devices that worked before iOS 8 stopped working after.

Do some pianos need driver software? Just like computers need drivers in order to use a specific piece of hardware?

There's no drivers involved in iOS. Yamaha does have special USB drivers for Windows and OS X. It should just work. I'm stumped - there's got to be something in the chain that needs to be turned on or off. Have you tested the piano with anything other than the iPad? That would still be my next step.

I was really hoping to be able to use this. I'm very disapointed. There must be something I'm doing wrong.

Is there anything I have to use between the USB wire and the Camera Adapter? Should I try a different USB wire because the one I have is older, but it still works on other devices. I know for a fact it has to be USB 2.0. Do you know if my iPad is supposed to show any recongnition of my keyboard without the app? Like for example, does it have a pop up that says something like: "Do you trust this computer yes or no?" (Something like that)

Ok, I tried this on an iPad 4 running iOS 8.1, the lightning camera connection kit, and a Yamaha CP40. In Synthesia under the Setting the Yamaha shows up as "Yamaha CP40 Stage Port 1" and "Yamaha CP40 Stage Port 2" under Music Input. I select "Yamaha CP40 Stage Port 1" under Music Input. It asked me to play a range of notes, and that was it. It's my belief that the Yamaha USB-MIDI interface is universal across their keyboards and their stand-alone UX16 interface since they only offer one driver for Windows and OS X for everybody. I use the same set with the iPad on my CP4. I've also got a UX16 hooked up to that one going to a Windows box.

In general you won't get any messages back about stuff connected to the USB input unless there's an error state, which is usually caused by the device trying to suck power out of the iPad (most keyboards won't do that). And basically MIDI exists in an either there or not there state. Most apps I use just listen for any MIDI input on any channel and use it if they find it. Some apps (Synthesia turned out to be one of them) require manual setup in their own settings. GarageBand doesn't require any setup. I turned it on and the keyboard input started working.

The fact that nothing appears under settings indicates that your iPad is simply not aware that the keyboard is there. So yes, if you've only used that one cable, try changing it. ALl I've ever used are old A/B cables that came off of printers. Synthesia is free - can you get anybody with another iPad to download and try it out for you? Do you have a dealer nearby? Could you take your iPad to the dealer and try it on another DGX650?

One other thought -- Are you using the Camera Connection Kit for the Lightning connector? Or are you using the "old" Camera Connection Kit with some kind of converter to make it fit into the Lightning connector?

I use the CC kit for Lightning connector with my DGX-640 and it works fine. It's simply a 6 inch (or so) cable with USB (female) on one end and Lightning connector (male) on the other. The USB cable goes from the DGX-640 to the female USB of the CC Kit, which then goes into the iPad. It immediately worked with HCX - no fiddling with settings required. (I don't have Synthesia.)

If you're using the "old CC Kit and converting the connection somehow, perhaps the problem is with whatever you're using to convert it.

FWIW - I'm using this with an iPad 4 (I think), NOT iPad Air, and have NOT updated to iOS 8, because I believe that with OS upgrades "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

I hope this helps.

This is what I have:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD821ZM/A/lightning-to-usb-camera-adapter - Camera Adapter (Brand new)

http://www.amazon.com/SANOXY®-Cable-Type-Male-Black/dp/B00183I7EE - USB type A to type B (Old Cable)

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/keyboards/digitalkeyboards/dgx_series/dgx-650/ - My DGX-650 (1 month old)

Then I have just a iPad Air (The first one, only 3-4 months old) it has iOS 8

Everything is brand new except for the USB A to B

I'm not using and 30 -pin connectors that the old iOS devices required.

I'm beginning to question if the DGX-650 can even connect to a iPad Air, if it can I think it is a software problem because all hardware is set.

First try a different cable. Then find another Yamaha, any Yamaha with a USB-MIDI host if you can't find a DGX650, and try it with all the same equipment. The USB-MIDI interfaces on all Yamaha boards are probably the same. But if you can't find a Yamaha, try any brand keyboard with a USB-MIDI host. If that works, then it's specific to your Yamaha. If not, there's probably some other problem not related to what keyboard you have hooked up.

I talked to someone at Yamaha Costumer Support over the phone. I explained my problem etc. He said it should just be a plug and play and work just like that. I tried a iPad Mini with iOS 8 but I think it may be because of iOS 8. I'm going to get a different USB A to B that is smaller than the one I have at the moment. This is giving me a headache! lol


I'll try to take it to guitar center (where i got it from) and I'll test it out on different pianos when I get there etc.

Jtreimer, I'm sure it's just a cable or configuration issue, and eventually everything will click into place and you'll be up and running.

Slightly off-topic, but I recently received this wireless bluetooth MIDI connector:

http://www.quicco.co.jp/archives/shop_menu/wireless-midi-interface-mi-1-2

I'm just waiting for the control software to be approved for the AppStore by Apple.

Cheers,
James
x

I just talked on the phone with a member from Yamaha Customer Support. he tried the exact same thing that I did and it didn't work. The only way it will work with a iPad is the i-UX1 cable, so I'm going to go purchase one of those and see if it does work or not.