Vb3m for Juno ds

[Shaero]

Non tekkie here. Looking to improve organ sounds and came across the vb3m plug on. Can it be used with the ds? If so what is the connection? I understand it’s an Apple camera adapter but what else is needed if anything. Thanks

 

[anotherscott]

The connection will depend on what device you are running on. Does your Apple device have the lightning connector or the USB-C connector? Headphone jack or no?

 

[Shaero]

The connection will depend on what device you are running on. Does your Apple device have the lightning connector or the USB-C connector? Headphone jack or no?

Lightning. I realize it needs a camera adapter. Is there anything else needed? Logic,Abelton,etc. Sorry for the lack of tech.

 

[anotherscott]

For lightning, use the Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera adapter and a regular USB-A to USB-B cable (aka USB printer cable), that will let give you the required MIDI connection, and also a pass-through lightning port so you can keep the charger plugged in when needed. To get the VB3m audio from your external device to your Juno DS, you'll need an 1/8" TRS (stereo) cable to run from the device's headphone jack to the External Input jack on the back of the Juno DS.

​

 

[Shaero]

I pad has no phone input.Understand the camera adapter cord. Not so much the printer cable. Lol. Can you diagram the different connections? Thanks too much for your help. I’m just an old piano player!

 

[anotherscott]

If it's an iPad and has no headphone jack (output)... are you sure it has lightning? I thought all the iPads that had lightning connectors had headphone jacks, and all the iPads without headphone jacks had USB-C (not lightning). Double-check that, because that changes which cables you need.

The printer cable is a cable with a USB-A connector on one end and USB-B on the other. That cable has many uses, but most people recognize it as a printer cable, since that has been the most common way to connect a printer to a computer for the last 25 years or so, up until the newest computers that have only USB-C and don't have the old USB connectors anymore.

 

[Shaero]

Ok you’re right! There is a tiny headphone jack on the I pad 8th gen. So camera cord from lightning to ds and. 1/8 from headphone to external input on ds. Printer cord ?

 

[anotherscott]

The camera adapter cable doesn't connect directly to the DS. It connects to one end of the printer cable. The other end of the printer cable connects to the DS.

USB-A to USB-B cable (aka "USB printer cable") pictured below...

 

[Shaero]

Got it! I’ll let you know how it works out. Thanks again

 

[Shaero]

The camera adapter cable doesn't connect directly to the DS. It connects to one end of the printer cable. The other end of the printer cable connects to the DS.

USB-A to USB-B cable (aka "USB printer cable") pictured below...

View attachment 3345

One last question. The 1/8 cable is a trs cable 1/8 to 1/8?

 

[anotherscott]

yes. The headphone jack on the iPad and the external input jack in the Juno DS are both 1/8".

 

[Shaero]

The camera adapter cable doesn't connect directly to the DS. It connects to one end of the printer cable. The other end of the printer cable connects to the DS.

USB-A to USB-B cable (aka "USB printer cable") pictured below...

View attachment 3345

Couple more questions. Can you dm me on FB?

 

[anotherscott]

Best to ask here rather than any DM. More people can help, more people can benefit.

 

[Shaero]

Best to ask here rather than any DM. More people can help, more people can benefit.

Understood. Once connected to the ds,how does one alternate on/off. In other words,song 1 uses the organ,song 2 doesn’t. Also,are there moves I need to make on the ds or once connected,it’s playable. Hope this is understandable

 

[anotherscott]

Up until now, you were talking only about physical connections, but you also need to deal with the software side (settings in VB3m, settings on the Roland).

There are numerous ways one could switch the organ sound in or out, but I'd say put VB3m on some MIDI channel you don't typically use, and create some performances where the keyboard is transmitting on that channel (the organ will sound), and create other performances where it is not transmitting on that channel (so it won't sound). Then if "song 1 uses the organ,song 2 doesn’t" you pick a Performance that transmits on your organ channel for song 1, and a performance that doesn't for song 2.

The concept is nothing specific to MIDI or external sounds... you can always pick the sounds you want for song 1 and put them in one Performance, and the sounds you need for song 2 and put them in another, that's just basic board operation. The only thing that we're adding here is, for song 1, you want to enable the part that transmits on the channel that VB3m responds to.

I'd use channel 8, because it's the highest number (typically least likely to be used for something else) that doesn't require switching the pads (from the default 1-8 to the alternate bank of 9-16). Then that pad #8 could be useful for switching to or away from that sound within a single Performance. (By default, each part of a Performance is associated with the same-numbered MIDI channel, e.g. Part 8 defaults to transmitting on MIDI channel 8.)

caveat: this is all from memory, I haven't used the DS in a long time.

 

[Shaero]

Up until now, you were talking only about physical connections, but you also need to deal with the software side (settings in VB3m, settings on the Roland).

There are numerous ways one could switch the organ sound in or out, but I'd say put VB3m on some MIDI channel you don't typically use, and create some performances where the keyboard is transmitting on that channel (the organ will sound), and create other performances where it is not transmitting on that channel (so it won't sound). Then if "song 1 uses the organ,song 2 doesn’t" you pick a Performance that transmits on your organ channel for song 1, and a performance that doesn't for song 2.

The concept is nothing specific to MIDI or external sounds... you can always pick the sounds you want for song 1 and put them in one Performance, and the sounds you need for soing 2 and put them in another, that's just basic board operation. The only thing that we're adding here is, for song 1, you want to enable the part that transmits on the channel that VB3m responds to.

I'd use channel 8, because it's the highest number (typically least likely to be used for something else) that doesn't require switching the pads (from the default 1-8 to the alternate bank of 9-16). Then that pad #8 could be useful for switching to or away from that sound within a single Performance. (By default, each part of a Performance is associated with the same-numbered MIDI channel, e.g. Part 8 defaults to transmitting on MIDI channel 8.)

caveat: this is all from memory, I haven't used the DS in a long time.

Good info. So if I make a performance with an onboard organ sound and route it as you say,does the vb3 override?

 

[anotherscott]

Theres no "override". If you have a Performance with an onboard organ sound enabled, you will hear that organ sound, regardless of whether or not you are also triggering VB3m. Same as if you had a Performance with any other sound. There's no correlation between what kind of sound you choose for an internal sound and what sound you choose for an external sound, e.g. VB3m. What you hear (or don't) simply depends on what part(s) the keyboard is set to trigger, and what sounds have been assigned to those parts.

When you enable Part 8, it will do whatever you program part 8 to do. If we're reserving Part 8 for VB3 and you only want it to trigger that external sound and not also play an internal sound, you can mute that part's internal sound, and save the Performance in that state.

 

[Shaero]

Your info is invaluable. I hope others are gaining knowledge. As far as the audio,is it coming from the iPad or the ds. If I pad can it be directed to external speakers or even headphones?

 

[anotherscott]

If connected using the cable scheme described earlier, the sound will come out of the iPad's headphone jack and into the Juno DS. At that point, the outputs of the Juno DS (both the main outs and the headphones) will carry both the native Juno DS sound and the sound that is coming in from the iPad.

 

[happyrat1]

But the preset volume of the Juno can be adjusted to zero while the input is controlled by a separate setting.

AT least it should work in theory.

Or you could route the phone's output to a set of monitors and then the keyboard global volume can control the Juno.

It all depends on what sort of mixer you use.

I do it with MIDIed and virtual instruments all the time in my studio,