Help with USB/MIDI to CV

Hello,

I hope someone can help me clarify my doubts or my thought process.
I started with the cre8audio nifty case as my first modular case simply because it have MIDI in/thru and USB to midi with 2 x CV, 2 x gate, clock and a mod. I typically connect the case via USB and set usb midi channel on my DAW (ableton) CV/Gate 1 by default to channel 1 and CV/Gate 2 by default to 2 as specified by cre8audio for nifty case.

Problem 1:
If I use just the midi in of the nifty case with my other hardware (Elektron Rytm is master), it appears that the transport and clock doesn't work. The sound on the nifty is constantly on even if i stop the rytm and the BPM changes on Rytm doesn't affect the bpm/clock on the nifty case.
Therefore I am now sticking to USB mode only. Any insight on this would be helpful as to why when nifty case is sync with MIDI, clock and transport is not affected.

Problem 2:
I want to now expand to a bigger case and need to get some USB/MIDI to CV module. I am so used to having the configuration of the nifty case and do not find any module which serves this purpose, i.e. USB/MIDI -> 2 x CV, 2 x Gate and 1 x clock. I also fear that if i just get a midi to CV I will face problem 1. Having only USB to CV means i have to have a laptop and i sometimes need that if I want to write midi notes on the DAW (I'm not talking about Ableton CV tools - my sound interface doesn't' support optical out, therefore I cannot use Expert Sleepers). It's just simple midi notes, going via USB to channel 1 or 2 - take the CV1 gate 1 and CV2 gate 2 from nifty case and plug it to Rings and Plaits as my sound generators, so to say.

So now the question is when i look at modules which provide USB/MIDI to CV, they are either MIDI to CV or USB to CV and have only 1 cv, gate and clock outputs.
Would I then need 2 such modules? 2 USB/MIDI -> CV to trigger my 2 modules (Plaits and Rings) from my DAW or Sync from external hardware (Rytm). When I sync from Rytm I have to mention thatI sometimes use Qu-bit bloom to generate patterns for both as Qu-bit bloom has 2x cv/gate - but in this case Problem 1 still exists.

Doepfer A-190-1 has midi in and thru but only 2x CV and 1 gate.
Doepfer A-190-3 has usb and midi to gate, note, pitch, v/v and Clt.
Pittsburgh Modular MIDI3 has mid1 to 2 channel CV/gate and a clock
Doepfer A-190-4 has USB/MIDI to 2x CV and 1 x Gate
Doepfer A-190-5 is probably what i might need - 4x CV 4 x Gate and more CV other controls

I just do not know what my next step would be or is my thought process completely messed up?

In short, my use case is:

Trigger Plaits and Rings either with a DAW using USB to CV OR sync the whole rack with external hardware using MIDI to CV and sequence with qu-bit (clock in qu-bit).
I would eventually extend my case for other sound generators which also need to be CV'd and/or Gate'd

Thanks a lot
Cheers

Heyo, I'm not sure if I'm missing something important. But there is a lot of modules that also do MIDI -> CV with more channels outside of the dopefer world.

I'm using a https://www.modulargrid.net/e/befaco-midi-thing-, which is configurable to be either 8x triggers + clock out/start stop or 4xCV 4x GATE + clock out/start stop or one channel with velocity and mod + clock out/start stop and other configurations in between.

With this module you would only have a oldschool din-Midi tho.

Hi zuggamasta,

Thanks for your feedback. Thats exactly my problem, there are modules which do USB -> CV or DIN-MIDI to CV and very few which have both and if so, have only 1CV Gate Clock out.

Then again, if I do take befaco into consideration, why do my modules not respond to the midi messages (transport, clock).
Is this is a very specific cre8audio Niftycase problem?
How you do use the befaco module? MIDI via sound interface (so your DAW becomes the master clock) or a external hardware?

Cheers
Ambrish

Ahhh, now I'm getting your issue, I had similar coniderations. I do use the midi thing for DAW use DAW+External Sequencer and just to plug it into a keyboard. I don't have that big fixed rig so play around and experiment a lot. The favorite workflow for me is:
Teenage Engineering OP-Z as sequencer -> USB -> DAW -> USB -> SOUNDCARD -> MIDI -> Midi Thing

I could either shortcut this by having the OP-Z CV addon -> with CV and Gate outs, TRS Midi out or a module that takes USB-Midi to CV.

But I like to go through the DAW first because I can record midi and audio of my sessions and replay parts for dubbing etc. The DAW also is great to remap midi in/outs on the fly. Which is a little fiddely on the OP-Z.

Cheers

To further explain i have made a basic diagram which hopefully sheds lights on what I would like to have

Current situation with problem 1
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IOLw3usFERrRKgA-N71aUs9sDtNcVrrk/view?usp=sharing

New Case (Need USB/MIDI to CV Module)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UnxxlANQ0iGCQeApaYumAQNG386iKZsV/view?usp=sharing

Ah now I get you. It's one of the reasons why I also not bought into the nifty: It's modular is a great platform to switch out things if they don't work, but now it looks like you need to switch cases ;) .

My experience with midi clocks is, they tend to be a bit tedious in setting up. Reaper (DAW) for examples does not sent start stop or clock bei default, but it needs to be configured in the midi out.

From a quick search it looks like the clock needs to be activated seperatly from midi out on the elektrom rythm:
https://www.elektronauts.com/t/midi-clock-out-set-up/29559
But you probably already checked this

This is why I don't even bother with sending MIDI to modulars, for the most part. It makes far more sense to use soundcard-type solutions with various software that can send straight CV/gate/trig/clock/etc via a DC-coupled audio interface, because you tend to not see those sorts of latency "slop" issues. And if this starts running noticeably ahead of the MIDI-driven stuff, it's easy enough to get at just those tracks in the DAW and nudge them into place. Of course, we all know about Expert Sleepers' modules, but their software (Silent Way) can also work via a proper digital audio interface with DC coupled I/O. I use a MOTU 828 mkii for this...8 in, 8 out, Live's CV Tools doing the work.