Hello everybody!!

Can anyone tell me, what are the differences
between the MIDI & To host terminals? At the
moment I am looking for the PSR-9000 and I
also would like to connect it to my PowerMac
computer. I use mostly Cubase and Encore
softwares but I have some others also. Is
there any difference between these connections
with the computer? Which interface should I
use? I am very grateful of all your answers.

Michael

Hi, Micco. I haven't used the To Host interface - I just use MIDI. I also use Windows. I think the main difference is connection speed - the To Host is said to transfer data faster than MIDI.

To use the To Host connection with a Yamaha keyboard, you need a special cable from Yamaha - it costs around $16, I think. For PCs, one end connects to the serial port of the computer, and the other end goes into the To Host port of the keyboard. There is a switch on the back of the keyboard which needs to be set to "PC2" on a PC.

You also need to install a software driver if you use Windows, and it should come with the keyboard (I have a PSR-740, and my driver was on the data floppy that came with it.)

For Macs, you also need the special cable. You connect from the modem or printer terminal on the computer to the To Host terminal on the keyboard, and switch the switch on the keyboard to "Mac".

My manual also says you need to set the MIDI interface clock in your sequencer software to 1 MHz. This may vary with different software.

HTH,

Cindy G.

Oh, I just read in your post you use a Mac, so ignore the Windows stuff (although it might help PC users). You won't need a driver, just the cable.

Good luck!

Cindy G.

One really cool thing about using the To Host port is that it turns the keyboard itself into a MIDI interface for your computer, even if you don’t currently have one! All you need is the serial port that most PCs and Macs (pre-USB) come standard with! Any MIDI channels that your keyboard isn’t using for itself (or even that it is, if you don’t mind “sharing” can be passed on out the keyboard’s MIDI Out port to any other MIDI device(s), and also info received from MIDI In can be passed back to the computer through the To Host port.