We play live ceilidh music and have a midi accordion which until now we have had connected to an old Korg sound module which has finally given up and are looking for a replacement. Our need is fairly basic, the Korg just gave us bass and piano controlled from the bass side of the accordion. We are interested in the V3 expander, of which there is an accordion specific model that sounds ideal, however we are being told that we also need a Sipario router, the question is why? We have never needed one before, just the Korg, we are confused. The accordion has a power supply built into the midi cable, presumably there is an on board card of some sort? Does this do what the Sicario does? We only have one instrument with a midi output. Hope someone can clarify, many thanks
The word 'need' means different things to different people. The person trying to SELL you something clearly thinks you NEED a Sipario.
They COULD be right.
I've spend a couple of minutes with Google, and I note that the V3 expander is much more sophisticated than the korg module (whichever one it was) probably was. I'd guess it can do FAR more than you could easily control from the accordian as your 'controller'.
Even though the Sipario is designed for more complex set-ups than you're going for, it could still be helpful.
If, however, you do NOT want to get into more complex things, and plan to stick with the sort of things you were doing, then I'd guess that you do not NEED the Sipario. The extra bells and whisles (sp ?) could come later.
If you do get a Sipario, then you'll have 2 new high-tech devices to learn about!
Note that there's a very recent thread from Vincenzo regarding a Yamaha CP33 - he's using a Sipario. If he doesn't answer directly, you might ask him (via PM ?) about how he uses his device.
Geoff
Geoff, you're a hero, you echo my thoughts exactly, even the 1980's technology of the Korg was more than we needed! Many thanks for the advice, technology has moved on so far we are a bit 'at sea' with this. Now we can ask the right questions with more confidence. Thanks again.