Why don TPX keyboards and TBX1 have USB ports?
MIDI was designed as a system where any device with MIDI ports can communicate with any other device having MIDI ports, otherwise known as a “peer-to-peer” system. USB does not work this way. It is a system which requires a master device (a computer) to provide power and route all the traffic, otherwise known as a “host-centric” system. Because MIDI-over-USB lacks peer-to-peer connectivity, it is at odds with the basic concept of MIDI. Any device requiring MIDI-over-USB is a computer peripheral, not a stand-alone device. The Tuning Box and TPX keyboards are designed as stand-alone MIDI devices, which can connect as a peer to other MIDI devices, and as such, they require a MIDI to USB interface in order to communicate with a computer. If you want direct USB connectivity without MIDI peer-to-peer functionalty, take a look at the latest addition to the Tonal Plexus family, a computer peripheral USB keyboard called U-Plex. Back to top.
