My G2M died?

[mats77]

Hi,

I recently bought a G2M. I used it a few weeks back and was very happy with its performance. However, when I plugged it in today, it do not work anymore. Seems like no midi notes are transfered to my sound card (midi-in device).

This is the current status and what tests I have done:

* I have a electric guitar plugged into GUITAR.
* I have a midi cable going out from MIDI OUT to my sound card's midi-in.
* The POWER/TUNER led is green.
* THE LOW BATTERY does not lit.
* When I play a note on the guitar, the MIDI led flashes, as well as the POWER/TUNER led.
* Still, no sound in my DAW.

If I unplug the midi cable from the G2M (but leaves the midi cable in the sound card), and insert the midi cable into another midi producing device (e.g. a Yamaha DTXLORER digital drum kit), there is immediately sound in my DAW.

Could the G2M suffer from low battery, even though the BATTERY led isn't lit? What else could be wrong, I mean, I have another device using the same cable and midi-in, and the DAW is the same, so what other human user errors could there be? Or has the G2M simply died?

Best regards,
Mats

[james]

Hi Mats,

I'm sorry to hear you are having problems.

It sounds like the G2M is mostly working correctly. The MIDI LED is connected directly (more or less) to the MIDI output, so if this is flashing, it will be sending MIDI out. Also, if the battery voltage was too low, the G2M would shut down to protect the battery from deep-drain.

The only G2M problem I can think of currently is that there is a bad solder connection to the MIDI connector so the MIDI signal isn't getting to the cable, or the +5V power isn't getting to the cable -- you need both for the receiving device to get the signal. But, I've not seen this before.

Are you using a Mac, or a Windows PC? Maybe you can use a MIDI monitor tool to see if there is any MIDI signal coming from the G2M. In Windows, Midi-Ox is great for this (www.midiox.com). I'm not sure what the best tool is on OSX.

[mats77]

Thank you James for your reply!

I am a Windows 7 user, and my midi sequencer is Propellerhead's Reason/Record.

I will try the Midi-Ox tool. Sounds like a good start. I will try one more thing this evening, and that is to switch to another midi-in device. I'm currently using midi-in on my external sound card (Edirol UA-25), but I also have another midi-in device (Midisport) in my possession.

I will post the results here.

Best regards,
Mats

[mats77]

Well, everything works just fine today!

Have no clue what made it work, since I just started my DAW (without touching/changing anything since last night) and it all worked. I did download Midi-Ox before starting my DAW, and verified that the G2M was indeed sending out midi signals. But I have a hard time believing that Midi-Ox did something to make it work.

Sorry for spending your time, but thanks for the quick reply! And thanks for the tips about Midi-Ox, a useful tool that I will keep for future references, problems etc.

Best regards,
Mats

[james]

No problem. The main thing is it's working now, and you have some ideas of things to check if something goes wrong again.

Have fun

[mats77]

Okay, so I have found out what the problem is...

Today when I was about to use my G2M, it was once again dead! No signals were coming into Midi-Ox even though the MIDI led flashed when playing on the guitar. Then I just touched the midi cable right at the midi output connector on G2M and the signals started flowing. So there is actually a loose connection in the G2M. (I have tried with two different midi cables to verify this. And the two cables are working fine with other midi devices.)

Sure, I can use tape or similar, to fix the midi cable in a position slightly to one side, just at the midi connector on the G2M, but I'm afraid it might get worse over time. And I don't want to open it, because I suspect the warranty will become obsolete.

So, I guess I need to return the unit to store from where I bought it... I will miss it, while it is gone...

/Mats

[james]

Yes, it sounds like you have found the problem.

If you are "competent", it is actually an easy thing to repair with a soldering iron. The G2M will disassemble/reassemble quite easily with a small screwdriver. We'd be happy to still honour your warranty if you did this with care. But, you can also return it for a replacement, and explain the problem to the store. Really, whatever is the best option for you, is the best for us!

[mats77]

Really, whatever is the best option for you, is the best for us!

Wish every support organization could say that!

Well, maybe I'll open it and fix it myself then (I do have a soldering iron). It will certainly be the quickest way.

Again, thanks a lot for your obliging support!

Best regards,
Mats

[Toff]

Hi James,

Sorry for bumping an old topic, but I got my G2m today and the same thing is happening.

Out-of-the-box I was able to play 20 minutes then, as I switched the cable on the Jack IN side (to try a different Mic*), no signal was sent to my MIDI sound module.
I tried everything, changed the MIDI cable, the battery, used another MIDI expander but to no avail .
As I was looking for some info on the forum I bumped into this thread, so I nudged the midi cable on the G2M side and the signal flowed again.

So I reckon there is something wrong with some units.
Can you indicate whether this is a known issue and if you can organize an exchange/repair?

My serial # is 1102398 and I ordered it from a reseller affiliated with AUSMIDI in Australia.

It's such a great device for AU$159,00 and I would love to be able to use it, as my tests have shown it could be quite good in my current setup, but I only play in live situations and cannot take the risk of an intermittent failure, and I am not confident enough to re-solder the unit myself (nor do I have the equipment).

Many thanks in advance,
Toff.


* Yes I use it to convert my voice to MIDI - Since I own a Roland GR-55 Guitar Synth which I use with my hex-pickup-equipped Godin, I am not after guitar-to-midi. I use the G2M to drive another sound module with a high-impedance mic from Senheiser passing through a Digitech Vocalist Live5 to get compressor / noise gate & high-pass filter (to kill my drummers' and other instruments' sounds) + pitch correction (to 'force' the generated voice to be on pitch and behave chromatically) - WIth the chromatic mode set to ON on the G2M it is almost flawless

[james]

Sorry you have this problem. It's not something we've seen often before (this is only the second one we are aware of).

Contact the reseller about a warranty replacement. Any problems, you (or we can on your behalf) contact AUSMIDI to arrange a replacement. If we can get the unit back from AUSMIDI we can examine it and feed the info back to QC for future production checking.