RK-006 split brain + RK-008

Andrew J

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here. I currently have the RK-006 plugged in via USB to my computer (Reaper). I have it in Split Brain mode. Midi Out 1 from the RK-008 is going to IN1 on the RK-006, and I am sending midi over RK-006 outputs 1, 2, and 3. That's working fine, but I want to send midi clock (from my DAW, I have only one output, 10, set for clock in Reaper) out of Out10 on the RK-006, into the RK-008. Some sort of midi loop is occurring. In Split Brain mode, it shouldn't be echoing midi data from IN1, right?

Basically I'm trying to use the RK006 as a Thru Box, but have a dedicated output for only clock from the computer, not echoing any data from the actual In 1/2.

grit

Split-brain is the predecessor/overlap of the FX-insert mode which the RK008 uses so I'm not sure if it will go well. Not sure why you need it since with reaper you should be able to assign tracks to the individual outputs of the RK006 right?

So it's a bit difficult to predict what is happening here, perhaps reaper echo's midi in to out anyway by means of input track selection? the RK006 uses one clock in it's system, so if a clock comes in on in1 it will always override clock from other sources like USB or in2, this is the clock prio of the RK006.

There are different options which could help in your config

use hairlessmidi to make use of the serial port in the RK008 and map it to an actual MIDI port in Reaper, it will give you an extra midi I/O accessible form the Reaper settings ( )
set a rk006 port to gate mode and make the cate trigger by clock, you can slave the RK008 via sync in tempo and that way no other midi will come in, only a sync pulse (RK006 settings: https://retrokits.com/rk006/settings/ )

Either way, I think split brain is not nescessary in this setup? It would probably be easier to work with on a normal RK006 operation mode.

Andrew J

I did think about the hairlessoption, and also tried to do gate but for some reason couldn't get it to work. I am still learning the RK006 operation, do you just set the output to gate and transmit midi clock out of that output, and it will convert it?

Also, interestingly I tried to turn Tx Clock off on the RK008 and still had the same issue, so it must be midi notes that are being looped in from that In 1. I'm going to try those options, but in the meantime still trying to wrap my head around how I want to set this up. It's really nice to use the 006 as a midi thru box, but still have it acting as an interface, if I can figure out. Right now, the only midi happening with Reaper is midi clock, trying not to have any midi tracks in there. Sorry for the long winded response!

grit

Yes the RK006 can also generate various click signals just on midi clock. Not sure why it seems to loop though, the rk006 will keep to only one clock in the system to work with. Is the rk008 configured to slave to external midi clock? Here's also a video about setting gate signals on the RK006: